Until I Found You
by Allielove95
Summary: Before the rise of the ogres, the curious and stubborn Princess Belle wishes to see the world, but is held back by her overprotective father. But when fate allows Belle to save a young boy named Baelfire from a terrible accident, the beauty soon makes a deal that will change her life forever.
1. Belle

**Hey everyone! I'****ve had this idea for a while and finally decided to write it. This story will have some of the major events from the show but I have put my own kind of twist to it. As always, I do not own Once Upon A Time, I can only dream. I hope you enjoy!**

The night was unseasonably cool, even for autumn. A brisk wet wind was swirling through the sullen old trees, stirring around decayed branches and brown leaves. Princess Belle pulled up her dark hood to cover her pale face. It would not be in her best interest to be recognized, especially out of the protection of her castle.

She saw her breathe with each exhale, while she examined the forest around her. In the dark of the night, the endless woods seemed to go on forever, it was peaceful and quiet while she listened to the soft sound of gentle raindrops falling on the branches of the trees.

These woods were far from ordinary, the essence of magic was all around, these trees were very old, they had witness things beyond anyone's imagination. There were even tales, horror stories for children, about what imaginative terrors resided within the darkness.

But Belle knew no such things about darkness, being born a princess, she was a treasured gem, a sparkling light of the Avonlean Kingdom. She was an extraordinary beauty born of high grace and nobility, whose only crime was disobeying her father by being out of her chambers this late at night.

Ever since the passing of her mother, her father, King Maurice, had been very strict on his commands for his only beloved daughter. She knew very little of the world outside her glassed castle window, and Maurice intended to keep it that way. Even in her own castle, Belle could feel the weight of other's eyes upon her everywhere she went, watching her with a protective guard, making sure she did not stray too far away.

However, the princess was stubborn and strong willed, determined to explore the world, and adventure the lands that lay beyond Avonlea. Once whenever the opportunity would arise, when the night sky was clear and full of stars, Belle would grab her black peasant cloak and sneak out of the castle, indulging herself in everything the outside world had to offer.

The forest was her favorite place, she came to realize. The pictures and imagery she read in her books were not satisfactory to the real thing. The fresh smell of the forest pines and recent rainfall filled her nose, while she sat against one of the trees and gazed up at the stars, making the same wish she always did in a gentle lullaby:

_By day I'm stuck within castle walls,_

_while adventure screams and the forest calls,_

_My wish is pure, just like a dove,_

_ I wish to find my one true love._

_Stars so bright, and stars so clear,_

_Please let someone take me away from here._

As always, her gentle song was heard by no one but the trees and the crickets. Eventually, when she became tired, the beauty would gather her things and return towards the path towards the castle.

As she walked along on the gravel trail, the chirping sounds of crickets drifted along in the wind, while somewhere in the distance, Belle heard the howl of a lone wolf.

The pathway towards the castle opened suddenly into a beautiful moonlit courtyard. Belle slipped through the heavy protective gates, carefully taking her skirts in hand, careful not to snag the golden fabric on the rusted sharp metal.

She then climbed the worn stone steps to a tiny side window, open just enough to squeeze herself back inside. She found herself in a dim room with a low ceiling, lit by a pair of scented candles that flickered against the decorative thick walls. She recognized the familiar tapestries she had been surrounded by her entire life, the patterned carpets and most importantly, Belle recognized the sounds of her father's guards approaching.

Her heart raced in her cheat as she tried to find a way to hide herself. "My Lady?" A voice called from down the hall, and Belle immediately knew had been caught. She felt he entire body freeze, as if the spoken words of the guards forced her to remain hopelessly in one pathetic spot.

"Where are you?" He called, his voice coming closer, while the dim light of the fire lit the dark walls, casting out his shadow. It would only be seconds until he saw her, standing there, dressed in peasant clothes, caught red handed breaking her father's rules. When the footsteps of the kings guard were undeniably close, Belle stepped out from the shadows behind the door, defeated, accepting the fat that she had been caught.

"I suppose you're going to tell my father about this?" The beauty attempted to throw her womanly charm into her sentence, but the guards were loyal servants to her father, and her attempt of appeal had failed miserably.

"As usual, my Lady, you are correct, please come with me. Your father is in the throne room."

The walk down the main hallway gave Belle plenty of time to arrange what she was going to say to her father. She walked behind the guard, lost in thought, dwelling on the punishments the King would give to her for disobeying him. Belle dreaded the sound of the large door opening, creaking with a low squeak as the guard led the beauty before her father.

"My Lord" the guard entered the room, following by the beauty, whose head hung low, formed in a respective bow. "I found Princess Belle lurking around the first floor, a window was also found open near her whereabouts"

Belle didn't even bother to glance up, she didn't need the disapproving stare to know that he already knew what she was up to.

"Leave us" Maurice ordered the obedient guards, who immediately exited, while the sound of the heavy door slammed shut, leaving Belle and Maurice alone.

"Father, I can explain-" Belle began.

"Explain?" Maurice repeated, "You were out gallivanting in the middle of the night for Gods sake, explain why you broke my one rule about going outside the castle walls."

"I just wanted to see the full moon.. Up close for once" she spoke, innocently. "Books can only take my imagination so far"

Maurice shook his head back and forth so much that Belle thought that his golden jeweled crown would fall off his head. He ignored any pleas or explanations his daughter had proposed, "Belle do you have any idea was kind of monsters lurk in the forests, especially on a full moon?"

She wanted to continue to protest, to fight for what she wanted, but her words came out stuttered, like a frightened child who had just gotten in trouble, "I just thought-"

"You thought nothing!" Maurice retorted, "you must do as your told and serve your duty to the court and the realm as my daughter!"

"But you never let me do anything!" Belle hissed angrily, unable to keep her anger boiled inside any longer. "And for very good reason", Maurice argued back, "I only want to keep you safe from those who would do you harm"

"You barely even let me leave the castle!" she exclaimed, frustrated on where the conversation was heading, "It's more like a prison than a home! I can barely call it a life! I'm not a child any longer!"

"This castle is no prison!" He protested feebly. "A prison does not have servants, fine clothes or fine dining. You must remember your place young lady, you have responsibilities, you're a princess."

"I wish I wasn't sometimes" she mumbled under her breath. She heard him let out a defeated sigh as she ran out of the room, holding back her irritated tears until she reached the comforts of her chambers, slamming the door violently as she went.

The king sighed deeply, slouching back into the comfort of his throne. He ran his fingers around his swollen temple as he turned to one of the guards, sighing, "war is easier than daughters"

* * *

Belle slept little as the small hours continued to creep towards dawn. She listened to the sounds of guards pacing outside her bedroom, and the noises of the animals which hummed and called from outside her window. Most hours of the nights, she would lay in her bed, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep. However, when the moment finally arrived that the beauty thought she might fall back asleep-

"Time to get up, m'lady" the sound of her handmaiden voiced throughout the room, as a groan of displeasure left Belle's lips the minute she was awoken. Her blue eyes still felt heavy as she forced herself to roll to the edge of the bed and eventually slide off.

The smells of a cooked breakfast filled her nose, causing her stomach to rumble desperately. She knew the dining room was going to be filled with royal servants and other soldiers, while the long polished table would be crowded with fresh breakfast. Her stomach grumbled again as Belle held onto part of the wall as her handmaiden tied up her corset. "It's too tight, Charlotte" the beauty complained, allowing herself to take in short breaths between each tight pull.

"This is the latest fashion, m'lady, it is said to be very popular- especially with the men," she continued, "they like a themselves a girl with a tiny waist"

"And apparently the ability to breathe without oxygen" Belle gasped, letting out growling noises with each pull and tug. Charlotte quickly tied the ribbons up with a perfect bow and helped the beauty with the rest of her dress.

Afterwards, the princess strolled into the main dining hall, searching for an open chair among the busy table. Belle took the seat across the table from her father and carefully placed the silk white napkin on her lap, cautious not to get any food on her new golden jeweled dress.

She noticed her father staring from across the table, surely he was conflicted on what to talk to her about, especially following the fight they had the night before. She raised an eyebrow at him as he continue to glance in her direction. In front of her lay a small ceramic bowl filled with steaming porridge, topped with plump purple blueberries.

"Belle-" he started, but he was interrupted by his daughter, who, as always, had a clever remark to make, still upset about the conversation they had last night.

"Oh, I'm sorry,' Belle stopped herself before she began eating, "I almost forgot, do you want to check this porridge? It could be dangerous you know-"

"Stop it, Belle" the King warned, "for God's sake lets not get in an argument this early in the morning"

"But I thought you wanted to stop harm from coming to me, father, I mean there is a slight chance I could choke on this steaming bowl of mush and die-"

"Enough" his voice became deeper, louder, and much more serious. His tone had startled his daughter, causing her to stare up and blink at him, swallowing a lump that had formed in her throat.

Belle placed the spoon down on the table with a large clunk and swallowed the spoonful of porridge in her mouth. "I'm going to go for a walk out in the gardens" the princess declared, turning to her father briefly, as he gave a slight head nod. Before she left, the beauty shoveled the rest of the porridge into her mouth and grabbed a shiny red apple to go.

"Do you want us to accompany the princess, my lord?" The guards turned towards Maurice, who watched his daughter while she independently strolled out of the dining hall.

"No, it's quite alright, she just needs time to breathe, heaven knows what she would do to any of us if she thought we were following her" Maurice responded, dismissing the guards to return to their duty. However, the King was unaware that his daughter wasn't going to a place so tranquil as the castle gardens, no, Belle had a much more exciting day planned, she was going into the village.

* * *

It was dark where he was crouched but the young boy did as he had been told. The lady had said to wait, it wasn't safe yet, they had to be as quiet as a mere mouse. It was just like a game, just like hide and seek. From behind the wooden barrels the little brown headed boy listened. He made a picture in his mind like his papa had told him to do when he was scared. Men, near and far, peasants and merchant farmers, shouted at one another. Rough and deep voices, full of the dry dirty air. In the distance he could hear the desperate sound of sheep and horses, while the footsteps of chickens frolicked around the empty barrels, hoping to find extra grain.

The lady would be back, she'd said so, but now, Baelfire was not sure. He had been waiting a long time, so long that the sun had drifted across the sky and was now warming the bottom of his knees rather than the top of his head of hair. He imagined that he could hear the sound of the lady's skirts, swishing against the wooden floor. Her footsteps quick and in a hurry, clacking towards him, but as much as Baelfire wished it, no such sounds came.

Carefully, he surfaced his head above the piles of wooden barrels to see what lay ahead of him. He saw nothing particularly dangerous, she men and women, strolling and busking around the scrambled village around them. Slowly and cautiously he emerged from the rubble and started to walk where most of the crowds had been walking. He found himself being pushed and shoved by the townspeople, pulling his shoulders back towards his body, timidly.

That's when he heard the sound of horses, neighing with protest as the crack of a whip sounded through the streets. He witnessed people moving quickly out of the way, holding their children back. Then he felt his heart drop down into his stomach. The horse cart raced towards him, pushing up the dry dust on the road. Baelfire felt as if his feet were rooted into the ground, his heart pounding rapidly in his chest. To his fright, the carriage did not slow down.

As the carriage came so close that Baelfire closed his eyes, he expected the painful hurt of the impact. Then something happened that the young boy did not expect, instead of feeling the brutality of a carriage, he felt warm arms around him, pushing him out of the way of the road and off to the side where he would be safe.

He landed on the side of the road, his eyes shut tightly the entire time. The horse carriage immediately came to a halt, skidding on the rough dirt, creating a gust of filthy dust.

He suddenly heard a soft gentle voice trying to ask him questions "Are you alright?" she questioned, "are you hurt?" The beauty examined the child, checking his arms for any sign of broken bones.

The brown eyed boy nodded, staring up into the big wide blue eyes of the beauty, reassuring that he was fine. While Belle took it upon herself to serve justice to the careless and reckless driver. The driver was a short fat man with overgrown stubble on his chin. His face turned into a scowl as he stepped down from the carriage, his face red with anger. "Look here you bastard brat!" He pointed at Baelfire "you almost caused this cart to crash!"

That's when Belle arose from her crouching postion and stood up. "Are you insane?!" The beautiful chestnut haired woman yelled, "how dare you yell at this child like that! You almost ran over him! Do you not have a brain in your skull?"

"How dare you speak to me like that!" The driver growled, and for a moment Belle feared he would approach closer and attack her, or worse, that he would attack the boy. "That is no way to speak to your Princess, I could get you hanged for that" Belle whipped off the top part of her hood, revealing her face. "I could dare say that could be accounted for as treason"

Then it was if the whole village stopped and stared at the event. Belle heard the people whispering, looking and pointing at her in awe, some even going so far to bow down on their knees. "M'lady.." The man was speechless, "please, you must forgive me" he bent down on his knees. "I'm a good person, honest!" He pleaded, "just don't tell the king about this"

"I will forgive you only because I wish to waste no more time on you" She spat, soothingly rubbing the tips of her fingers on Baelfire's shoulders. Through all the hysteria, Belle and all the villagers were unaware that close by, they were being observed and watched.

"Shh, it's alright, you're safe now" she reassured him, "what is your name? How old are you, love?" she asked, calmly.

"Baelfire" the boy responded, his voice remained a little shaky from the previous event, "My name is Baelfire, I'm eight"

"Why are you alone, Baelfire?" Belle questioned, "where are your parents?"

"I was with my maid, then she told me to wait in the barrels, and she just left" he stuttered, "she told me she would be back-" his big brown eyes searching hers for some sort of reassurance. "Your maid?" Belle repeated, "where did she go?" Belle's voice was soft and and soothing. "I don't know," he admitted, rather sadly, "she never came back to get me"

The beauty felt her heart sink in her chest. Surely, when the woman left this little boy alone, it was not by accident. Someone had carelessly left him here, abandoned all alone in the village. It took a couple of minutes for the little boy to calm down, but Belle brought him to one of the deserted side roads, one of the trails that was surrounded by foliage of the thick green forest. "Do you have any idea why she would want to run away?"

He sniffled. "She told me it was her only chance to escape, escape from my papa-"

"Who is your papa?" Belle asked, curiously, but before Bae had the chance to answer, the were interrupted by a sudden dark presence.

"That would be me" a voice answered. Belle turned around to face the sudden stranger, but when she did she tried not to let out a terrified gasp. "You're the-"

"The Dark one, yes, yes. I'm sure my reputation precedes me" he paused for a simple moment, fully taking in the presence of such a beauty before him, before his son ran into his arms.

"And you're the princess to this kingdom," his impish voice pitched higher, his tone becoming amused at the sight before him, "I suppose you are the one they call _Belle_"

"Your assumption is correct" she stated, trying to sound as confident as she could.

"I knew I recognized you, my, my what are you doing away from all your servants, and perfect castle, your majesty?" He circled around her, mockingly, slowly observing her, and examining the simple commoner dress she tried to disguise herself in.

"That's none of your business," she spoke, "but the question brought to my attention is what are you doing leaving your child alone?!"

"It would seem that our housemaid and no longer wished to take up residence at the Dark Castle. It's no matter really, it should be easy enough to track down the wench and rip out her heart"

Belle remained frozen where she stood, swallowing a large lump that had formed in her throat. The beauty was unable to figure him out, she couldn't determine whether his last statement was a quip or if he was serious._ He is the Dark One, afterall, killing is in his nature._

"I saw what you did back there" He spoke, "It was quite brave"

"I seek justice whenever it can be delivered" Belle said, timid and intimidated by the mere presence of a man she knew could kill her in a second if he really desired.

"I suppose this means I owe you a favor, I am an honorable man after all. All you need to do is call my name and I will come."

"A favor?" Belle raised an eyebrow.

"Hmm, indeed, but I'll be off now," he gave her a slight bow, gesturing to his son, "come along Bae"

"Wait!" Belle called after them, "you never told me your name" she realized.

The Dark One stopped in his tracks, a smirking smile formed on his lips. He was a master manipulator, a trickster, and yet this small princess was able to realize his trick._  
_

"Clever girl," he cooed gently, "I suppose both beauty and intelligence can be acquired after all."

Belle scoffed at his words, "that all depends on what you consider intelligence, it is easy to see why you might think so, considering some of the low life's that live in this village."

The Dark One smirked, showing her parts of his somewhat golden and razor-like teeth. "Rumplestiltskin", he gave a low bow, stretching out his arms to his sides, courteously.

"What?"

"My name" he clarified with a short bow, "My name is Rumplestiltskin" he stated. While years of manners and proper etiquette forced Belle to grabbed the top of her skirts and return the lady-like curtsy. While Rumplestiltskin grabbed a hold of his son, like any caring father would.

It surprised Belle to see the tenderness and affection such a monster could display to another, the love that was so obviously observed. Perhaps the old tales and stories were wrong, was Rumplestiltskin really the monster every portrayed him to be? Belle was not sure, she doubted she would ever see him again. However, as much as Belle thought so, fate had much larger things planned.

**Next Chapter: A threat from the ogres threaten Avonlea's Kingdom, forcing a deal to be proposed, while Maurice encourages Belle to marry his loyal swordsman, Gaston.**

**I will try and update as frequently as I can, and as always, thanks for reading! Leave a review and let me know what you think!**


	2. Deal with the Devil

King Maurice stood before the window, pacing nervously as he watched the sun slowly start to vanish behind a row of sharp peaked mountaintops. Belle_ must be on her way back now,_ he thought anxiously. But as the mists of evening had begun to rise, it sent grey shadows up the walls of the castle, also sending up fear within the King. "Where on earth is that child?" Maurice growled to himself, not knowing whether to curse or yell at the servants.

"I am sure that the princess will be back, my Lord." One of the guards tried to reassure him, while he continued to gaze out the window, hoping to see his daughter come up through the marbled pathway, perhaps having picked some fresh azaleas from the gardens.

"Papa?" A feminine voice rang from behind him, causing him to whip around instantly. Maurice saw Belle standing there, no doubt curious to what he was doing, the bottom of her golden skirt dusted with mud. "Belle!" He was shocked to see her standing behind him. "Where have you been, it's nearly dark-"

"I was with Charlotte my handmaiden" Belle lied, "There was some gowns that needed to be fitted, I'm sorry if I worried you- I told Charlotte to send word to one of your guards to inform you on the matter."

"You have mud on your new dress" he pointed out, and that is when Belle sheepishly looked down and noticed the horrible stains, uncomfortably flustered, hoping that she wouldn't get caught in her devious lie.

"It must have been from walking through the rose bushes, it is quite muddy around there, but you do know how much I love roses." Belle slyly covered up her tracks. She knew that the mud on the bottom of her dress was not from the castle gardens, it was from the dusty village. Suddenly the beauty felt sick, if her father had ever found out she was in the village he would lock her up for good, just to make sure she never does something like that ever again.

"So, how was your stroll in the gardens, my darling?" He continued on the conversation.

"It was fine" she answered, "It was very peaceful, I was glad to get outside of the castle for once" she could not help but showing her pearly white teeth coming through her fake grin. When in reality, Belle was remembering herself back in the village, and most importantly, she was remembering every bit of scaly detail on the Dark One's face. Such a dominating powerful man, if you could call him that. He was someone everyone feared and even the name would force shivers down any peasants spine in the village. The Dark One- Rumplestiltskin, had stood so close to her, his presence creating a sense of plague on her body, even when recalling the memory, she could imagine his voice in her head as if he were speaking to her in that moment.

Belle stopped her curious mind from wandering the second she realized her father was speaking. "Belle, I've done some thinking, and you know I don't like fighting with you, and if it means your happiness, I will occasionally let you leave the castle, if that's what you truly wish-

"Oh it is, Papa!" The beauty could barely believe what she was hearing, and in return, she flung her arms around her fathers neck, letting out a small joyful giggle.

"However, there is something else" Maurice started, while Belle pulled back, pulling her arms back down by her sides with an attentive ear on what the king had to say. "Like what?" she questioned.

"I have made a little _arrangement."_

"Okay" Belle followed along, "what kind of _arrangement?_"

"The LaRoux family had agreed to join out houses together as one, you and Gaston are officially _engaged" _he finished, his grin and eyes were enough to show her that he truly wanted this, he truly wanted this union to be made. Maurice wanted an arranged marriage for his daughter.

The princess felt as if she were going to be sick, wishing she could shake his words out of her mind. _An arranged marriage? O_ne of the biggest burdens she bared was the single responsibility was to marry, to live in comfort, far from the violence of war and to bear heirs, and now, it was finally happening.

"Engaged?" she repeated, wishing she could turn her nose the other way and disobey this proposal. "Yes, betrothed to be married" Maurice confirmed, a happy glow beamed across his pink rosy cheeks.

"Betrothed." Belle's voice rang flat. "To Gaston. But, Papa… _why_?"

"Belle, surely this isn't a shock. You've two have been friends for years-"

"_Friends_?" Belle gave an un-ladylike snort. "We have nothing in common," she protested, imagining it now, Gaston would be off sword fighting while she would be left alone to raise the children. "He is a good man, Belle, I believe it is a good match, he will treat you well"

"Treating me well and loving me are two very different things. I want someone who will love me for _me._ Even when I try to show interest in his barbaric sword fighting, he insists I go find an activity more appropriate for _a woman._" She snarled, irritated.

"He also hates sharing conversations because they only prove I am far more intelligent than he is, and…and-"

"There are much worse things he could do. Gaston may not be the brightest man but he's strong, he can protect you, plus he hails from a loyal family, you will be surrounded in whatever you would like."

"But I don't love him!" Belle protested.

"Love can always grow" Maurice added, "when I first married your mother we couldn't be any more different, but eventually we grew to love one another, then we had you. There was not anything I would not have done for your mother, she truly was the love of my life"

"But I know for a fact that Gaston is not mine!"

"Time will change that, you must understand that it is for the duty of your kingdom to be married, this is not a time to be selfish and think about yourself." The king concluded, not allowing Belle to have another opportunity to fight back.

When Belle did not reply, Maurice approached her, grabbed a hold of her shoulders lovingly, following up and supporting his decision, "you are a strong beautiful woman, this marriage will only bring happiness into your life. In time your love towards Gaston will blossom."

But Belle really doubted it.

* * *

A couple days passed and Belle had a lot of time to think about the arranged marriage. Though she was immediately opposed to it before, time had given her a different lens of perspective. She let her father's words creep in to her mind, even managing to somewhat make sense now. Marrying Gaston would be a very smart match indeed, and perhaps it wasn't such a bad thing after all, it would please her father and maybe she would find a way to love Gaston.

Gaston would not make a bad husband, and maybe he would allow her to leave and explore other places than the castle- but Gaston was also traditional, he believed that the wife belonged at the homestead. However, she could no longer afford to be thinking about those things right now, not while the unimaginable was about to unfold.

A ragged soldier burst through the door, his breath panicked as he shouted out for the attention of the king. She listened, unseen from the corner where she sat with a book, the business too urgent for her father to remember to dismiss her before it was dealt with. Gaston was in the room as well, in a bundle with the other soldiers as the rogue man broke into the throne room, desperately. He was far too busy discussing his countless achievements with the other soldiers too notice her presence.

"The ogres-" the man gasped, "the ogres have returned, a war is upon us!"

"Oh my gods" Maurice stood out of his throne, countless furs of hunted animals wrapped around his neck, almost matching the golden crown upon his balding head. There was a small panic among the crowd of guards, shock mostly, the ogres were destroyed, the men never once thought they would ever return.

Neither Gaston or her father never spoke of war in her presence. War was something she read about, something she could only begin to understand. it was in the history of Avonlea, the ogres have attacked before.

"Send out more men to the battlefield" the king ordered the men in front of him, demandingly, no doubt feeling threatened by what he was hearing. "The ogres are too strong, our men are being slaughtered like pigs!" The ragged man responded. "Maybe there is still hope" the soldiers standing beside Gaston added.

"To have that thought in your head only proves you are a fool"

"What about magic?" Belle stared at no one but her father, "magic can do anything."

"Indeed my darling, but where could we get such power?" He pointed out.

"We could send for aid from the other kingdoms, we desperately need more men" Gaston pitched, gaining vocal support from many of the other men.

"We do not need more men." Belle snapped, opposing his idea, "why would we bring men all the way out here, just for them to be slaughtered? We do not need unnecessary bloodshed. These ogres are ruthless and will take down anything that stands in their path."

"So what would you suggest then, princess?" Gaston raised a critical brow at her, while dozens of pairs of eyes fixed on the petite girl. "What about the Dark One" the beauty bravely spoke, her words plaguing the room with a deathly silence.

"The Dark One would bring destruction, he is a manipulative imp who cannot be trusted." Gaston stated, giving her a look of inequality, which made the princess even angry.

"He's the only chance we've got!" Belle urged, wishing just one person was willing to listen to what she had to say, but as usual, her wishes were gone to waste.

"He's right," Maurice croaked, slugging back into his throne, "perhaps, Belle, you should return to your chambers. War is no place for a lady, let alone a princess." The King suggested as gently as he possibly could, which struck a nerve deep down within Belle.

The kingdom needed someone in this time of despair, and deep in her heart Belle knew exactly who must aide them. Then, not daring to speak any louder than a whisper, Belle called "Rumplestiltskin". When the attempt failed she called the name two more times, still leaning hopelessly over the balcony, her log brown hair being gently blown by the slight breeze.

"I knew it would never work" she growled, letting out a deep defeated sigh.

"Well, never say never, dearie." A voice came from behind her, causing her to become startled and frightened.

"How did you get in here?" Belle demanded, her head racing to keep ahead of her heart which had risen in her breast, driven by terror. "You called my name." His voice was strange and grating; mockery and a childish slyness that combined to chill her blood. "And here I am."

"I am aware that neighbouring kingdoms have been summoning you for weeks, yet you did not respond to them." She accused.

"I was waiting for just the right person to call me here" He answered, half of his body draped in the shadows of the walls.

"And that would be, who, me?" Her tone was almost sarcastic, she was obviously exhausted and tired from everything that was going on.

"Precisely." He put his hands together, making clicking sounds with his fingernails, slowly emerging himself from the darkness. Belle gulped as he approached her further, taking a deep breath in, turning around completely so she was face to face with the imp.

"The ogres are going to invade us." she spoke up, "you told me a few weeks ago that exchange for saving your son you would owe me a favour, unless you've forgotten-"

"Trust me dearie, I would never forget a face like yours"

"Then you will honour your favour? Will you help us?" She tried to ignore his comment.

"You are a feisty one aren't you" Rumple observed, "A stubborn princess, no doubt- I wonder what your father, the king, has to say about this. I would like to see his reaction from his own daughter summoning the darkest creature in the entire Enchanted Forest."

"I am sure he will be reasonable," she replied sheepishly, "he will respect the decision I have made, I just know it" she said, hoping her words to be true.

* * *

"Belle, what have you done?" Maurice bellowed, glaring at Rumplestiltskin, "how dare you bring him here."

She was wrong, her father was everything other than understanding. "Papa, I've done what should of been done a few hours ago." She informed, "I have called the Dark One and he has responded, he can help us!"

"He is dangerous, you disobeyed my orders by calling him here" Maurice kept looking at Rumplestiltskin with disgust and hatred.

"He has the power to do anything!" The beauty enthused, turning back briefly to look at Rumplestiltksin who met her gaze, ignoring any scoffs made in the crowd. "So, what do you say? Will you help us get rid of the ogres?"

"That's an awfully large favour your asking, Princess," he briefly paused for a moment, "how about we make a deal instead?"

"And what kind of deal would that be?" She question, skeptically.

"Well, all magic comes with a price"

"And what's your price?" Maurice stood up, "what is your price to save our kingdom from such a brutal fate?"

"My price," the Dark One began circling the room, "is her." His finger pointed to Belle, which aroused gasps of horror within the court around them. Gaston placed the beauty behind him, shielding her from the imp that demanded her. "The young lady is already engaged, to me" Gaston's deep voice stated.

"I wasn't asking if she was engaged- I'm not looking for _love," _Rumplestiltskin mocked him, "I am looking for a caretaker for my estate, and for my son."

"Get out" Maurice pointed towards the door after hearing what the monster had requested.

"As you wish" he obliged, a devilish smirk painted upon his lips. The silence took over once again and there were faint whispers among the crowd, worried whispers mostly, unsure what was to become of their beloved kingdom.

"No wait" Belle called out, wriggling herself out of Gaston's protective grasp. "Father, people are dying, innocent people and children too. If me going with him assures out people then it is my responsibility to protect them." She argued to the very reluctant king.

"But Belle, you can't go with this _beast_" Maurice blunted added, gaining a sarcastic and childish reaction from Rumplestiltskin. "It's been decided, this is what I must do"

"It's forever dearie." The Dark One interjected.

"My friends, family and my people will all be safe?" She questioned.

"You have my word" he gave a short gentleman-like bow towards her, never breaking eye contact from her. "Then you have mine." Belle agreed, "I will go with you, forever."

"Deal" he grinned, letting out a shrill of delight.

"Belle.." Her fathers pleas were nothing more than a faint whisper. "Papa, you raised me my whole life teaching me to do my duty, and now I am fulfilling it, I am saving our people."

Her father opened his mouth to speak but before she had the chance to hear what her Maurice had to say, she was surrounded by magic purple smoke, being taken away from everything she once knew. And before the eyes of the king, Gaston and all the other men, the princess of Avonlea was gone.

**Next Chapter: Belle has a rough first week at the Dark Castle, between dropping teacups and mood swings from Rumplestiltskin, she is able to find comfort in his nine year old son, Baelfire.**

**I want to thank everyone who left reviews and anyone who favourited/followed this story! You all rock and motivate me to post the next chapter and to keep this story going! I will try and update it ASAP! Thanks for reading! Leave another review and let me know what you think! :)**


	3. The Dark Castle

They called it the Dark Castle, Belle had heard the sinister name before, but at first sight it seemed more enchanting than evil. Rumplestiltskin gave her his hand to steady her as she found herself into ankle-deep snow, her slippers not suited to walk in such icy weather. She was damp and frozen after only a few steps on the straight path that took them to the castle's doors. There was a cold and biting wind and, retreating into her cloak and hood and scurrying to keep up with Rumplestiltskin, Belle saw very little of her new mysterious home.

The snowstorm had worsened gradually as they drew closer to the castle, the snow falling hard and thick and coating everything in moonlit white. Huge double doors opened at Rumplestiltskin's approach and he stopped to wait for her, his hand gesturing her to hurry her inside. Belle tried not to be afraid when, in a darkened hall of marble, she heard the doors slam closed again behind her. The place felt deserted and chilled from disuse, but that sensation eased a little when Rumpelstiltskin snapped his fingers and many candles burst into life in their heavy iron candelabra.

The inside of the castle proved to be even more beautiful. As she marched behind Rumplestiltskin through the many hallways, she admired all the fancy decor and displays which hung on each side of the wall. Most decor shimmered with gold and bright shiny silver, indicating Rumplestiltskin's infinite amount of wealth. They passed a glass case filled with antique items and inside lay two of the creepiest dolls Belle had ever seen, sending a harsh shiver down her spine.

"Come," Rumplestiltskin said, striding ahead of her towards a wide staircase, while Belle looked around her in an effort to get her bearings. She had never been inside so large a building, nor one so finely constructed. Ahead of Rumplestiltskin, candles and torches came to life to light as he passed. Glancing back, Belle saw that those left behind did not fade again.

"Where are you taking me?" She called out innocently, pacing a couple steps to catch up with him. When Rumplestiltskin stopped suddenly, causing Belle to clumsily bump into him, her mind still in an absent curious state. The Beast let out a slight hiss of annoyance at her touch. Belle backed off and sheepishly apologized, looking down at her feet, wanting to look anywhere except his face. Rumplestiltskin cleared his throat and gestured to his left hand side towards a wooden door. With the snap of his fingers, the doorway opened into an elegant and charming bedroom.

"This is my room?" She spoke in utter awe of such a beautiful room.

"What did you expect?" Rumplestiltskin scoffed, "that I would make you stay in a dungeon?"

"Well, no, I was not really sure what to think." Belle responded honestly.

Belle walked over to the bed and traced her fingers along the soft cotton beige sheets. The bed was very comfortable, springing pleasingly under her as she sat on top. Once her warmth began to spread Belle was comfortable, nearly ready for sleep. It was the first time she was fully able to think. So much had happened in so little time, and she missed her family and her friends desperately now that she had a moment to herself. Her father's grief and anger haunted her, as did Gaston's accusing glare as she disappeared into nothing but a cloud of smoke.

"There is a full closet of apparel I deemed would be appropriate." The Dark One added.

"I request that you be in the main hall to serve me tea tomorrow at noon, and I strongly suggest you get a good nights sleep for the work ahead of you, my prize." He cooed almost mockingly.

"I am not a prize." Belle retorted. While Rumplestiltskin let out a deep laugh. "What did you think you were, dearie? Isn't that what you were born for? To be a knight's little prize? To be his toy? Well, now you're mine."

He giggled to himself as he thought of the chores he had in mind for her. He'd seen her hands, soft and delicate. The heaviest thing she'd probably every held was a needle and thread. Well, that would change soon enough. She would learn the life of the worker. She who had been on top would fall. Just like he who had been nothing had raised himself this high. His steps were lighter and his heart skipped inside of his chest. He rubbed his hands to together as he imagined the girl scrubbing away in the kitchens, bent over a washboard, sweeping the endless halls of his castle. Now this was teaching the nobles a lesson.

* * *

It took Belle most of the morning to realize that she had not seen one mirror in Rumplestiltskin's castle. Her exploration had taken her all over the castle, into many different rooms both lived-in and forgotten, but it was only when she caught her own reflection in a silvered teapot that she realized. Not one mirror. Not in her room, although it was furnished with everything else she might wish for. Suddenly her attention turned the the great grandfather clock which rang deeply as the clock struck twelve. Her heart dropped, making her feel sick. She knew that Rumplestiltskin expected her to be serving him afternoon tea, yet she could not understand why she was so nervous.

Belle came into the main hall, a silver tray with both hands, walking slowly so the tea and the red kettle would not fall. As she entered the dining hall, she saw Rumplestiltskin sitting comfortable at the head of the table, his hands intertwined together, impatiently. Then as she looked to the right, she saw the boy she had saved in the village, sitting comfortably on one of the dining chairs, his feet swaying with a childish swing.

"You will feed us our meals and clean the dark castle." Rumplestiltskin ordered, his voice clear and demanding. Belle nodded as her shaking fingers picked up the fragile kettle and poured some tea into a cup for him. "You shall do whatever you are asked whenever we want it," he continued, watching the princess, observantly. "You will also launder our clothing and oh! You must skin the other children I hunt for their pelt."

In terror, Belle dropped the teacup she had been holding onto precariously, falling to the ground with a loud crash. "That was a quip, not serious." He giggled childishly at her mistake.

Rumplestiltskin watched Belle as she nervously picked up the cup and became teary eyed when she saw it was chipped in the corner. Her brown curls covered her face as she looked down at the chipped cup.

"I'm so sorry... But it is chipped." Her mouth became dry which caused her to swallow uncomfortably. When he said nothing in return Belle held up the cup in his direction. "I mean you can hardly see it." She assured, allowing herself to get up off the floor.

Rumple looked amused at the whole situation. "It's just a cup." He said plainly.

Belle then placed the chipped cup on the tray and fixed herself up straight, feeling foolish and embarrassed. "Right." She whispered thinking how stupid she was for thinking he would punish her for breaking a silly cup. However, he still was the Dark One, she honestly had no idea what to expect, or what he wanted from her.

One thing lingered in Belle's mind that seemed rather strange. Even in all of his evil reckless murderous glory, she did not fear him as much as she probably should. Why then did she continue to tremble in his presence? She did not know.

* * *

After all the tasks Rumplestiltskin assigned to her were completed, Belle was allowed to spend sometime alone. She sat on her window sill, exhausted from the long hard day that was now behind her. Belle kicked off her slippers tied her hair back, and opened the curtains.

Staring out of the window into the evening sky, the beauty wished she could see her father again, to see her friends again. Belle felt a tear drop onto her cheek and instantly realized she had started crying.

"Are you alright?" A tiny voice called from across the room.

"Baelfire," she quickly wiped her tears, hoping that he would not see her, "why aren't you outside playing?"

"It gets boring being by myself all the time" Bae said, standing in the doorway to Belle's bedroom. "Papa's usually too busy and our last maid didn't really talk much."

Then, obviously noticing her distressed state, he asked, "why are you crying, Belle?"

She stopped for a second and tried to calm herself down. She didn't like to show weakness, it only confirmed the stereotype of the typical spoiled princess. Belle wanted to be strong, to be like the heroes she had read about in her books. She had only dreamt of heroics though, while in reality, Belle was frightened and upset.

Secretly deep down in her heart, she wished for her Prince Charming to save the day, to come save her from this alienated castle. But for now, all she seemed to have was the Dark One, and his nine year old son.

"I just miss my family." Belle explained, turning back around to gaze out her window.

"Do you want to be left alone?" He questioned.

"No" Belle nearly laughed, tears streaming down her rosy painted cheeks. Being alone was the last thing she wanted.

"Maybe we could be alone together" Baelfire suggested. His eyes carefully watched as he saw her stained light blue eyes light up at the suggestion.

"I would like that" Belle admitted, patting the empty space next to him, initiating for him to come sit beside her on the window sill. Baelfire approached and let out a tiny childish yawn. The beauty hesitated as his head rested against the inner part of her arm as they quietly watched the rest of the sunset. She stared down at the relaxed boy and couldn't help but feel something she had not felt since she had left Avonlea: happiness.

"I'm glad you came here" he spoke drowsily, his eyelids about to shut into a deep sleep.

Belle wished that she could agree with him, but honestly she didn't know how this would work. She missed her castle her friends and father terribly. The Dark Castle proved to be just as mysterious and dark as the man who owned it. She let out a shaky sigh before resting her head onto her pillow, allowing herself to close her eyes.

What had she gotten herself into?

**Hey everyone! I wouldn't be surprised if there were a few mistakes here and there because I wanted to post the chapter ASAP. So far it looks like I will be posting Thursdays, and I will try and keep up with weekly updates. Thank you all so much for all the reviews and follows! It honestly makes my day and puts a smile on my face! So contribute to my overall happiness and review again! I would love to know what you are thinking! Thanks for reading!**

**Next Chapter: When a large snow storm hits, a thief breaks into the Dark Castle and is captured by Rumplestiltskin. But when Belle sets him free, Rumplestiltskin insists they chase after him, until Belle finds herself in a perilous situation. Will Rumplestiltskin be able to save her before it's too late?**


	4. The Heart of Winter

It had been almost two weeks that Belle had resided at the Dark Castle. She was given the responsibilities as a maid and a caretaker. She was to scrub floors, dust the many objects Rumplestiltskin had collected, and to serve the meals for both him and Baelfire.

The castle always provided the meals, a blessing for Belle as she only knew a few simple recipes learned before her father barred her from the kitchens. However, she did have to clean up the dishes. As always, there was a dish left for her to eat once everything was finished. It could take her all morning for her to clean the plates and put them away, but the meal managed to stay fresh and hot. Either the castle did not know the difference between its masters and the servants or it was an unthinkable act of kindness on Rumplestiltskin's part.

Her stomach rumbled as she dried her last dish. It was only porridge, but she thought she saw some honey she could sweeten it with. It was one of her favorite breakfasts as a child so it brought back good memories. A crash disturbed her thoughts and chased away her appetite. At first she thought she'd broken something, but the sound was coming from another room. Somewhere upstairs.

Belle abandoned her chores and hurried out of the kitchen. She had to hold up her skirts as she ran up the stairs, he had made her a dress- a blue peasant one. It was beautiful and carefully made, and then best part was there was no corset.

She soon came upon a room where she could see shattered stained glass from one of the windows covering the floor in a shades of blue, red and green. A man wearing a green cloak with the hood drawn up was searching around the room with his eyes. He didn't notice her, but she did see a bow slung over his shoulder with a quiver full of arrows. He strode over to one of the pedestals containing a little wooden stand on top. A fairy's wand was placed carefully on top. She'd never had the courage to ask Rumplestiltskin how he had acquired that wand nor did she want to.

Belle didn't know if she was supposed to stop the thief or how she was going to do that. She liked to think she had courage, but she certainly couldn't stop an arrow from killing her. Besides, something told her that this man wasn't here for petty reasons. An ordinary thief would have piled all of the gold and silver into a sack, and got the hell out of the castle. But this man was too particular in his prized treasure. He wanted the wand. But why?

"Are you sure you want to do this, dearie?"

Belle gasped and saw that Rumplestiltskin had appeared in the room. This wouldn't bode well for the thief. She could feel the magic crackling through the air, enough to make the hairs on her arms and neck stand up on end.

The thief removed his hood. He was a young man with black hair and a beard. "Pretty sure." His voice spoke of some nobility, but Belle couldn't recognize what territory. She watched as he tucked the wand into his bag.

"I wouldn't be so confident," Rumplestiltskin waved one finger at him, like he was merely chastising a child for stealing an extra cookie from the jar. "If you don't know how to use that wand, it can do nasty things to you."

No wonder he'd insisted she never touch anything without his command or go to that tower of his. It seemed to Belle that magic was more trouble than it was worth and far too costly.

"Well then," the thief pulled an arrow from his quiver, "I'll stick to what I know works. Do you know what this arrow can do to you?"

Belle's heart clenched in her chest, but Rumplestiltskin showed no fear. "Has to hit me first," he said almost in a sing-song voice. Belle simply stood by and watched as her master vanished, not even in a puff a smoke, just abruptly gone in an instant.

He reappeared on the other side of the room, his hands clasped in front of him as if he was being introduced at a ball instead of being threatened to be skewered with an arrow. "Shouldn't be a problem," the man said, "An arrow fired from this bow will always find its target." He grinned as she spoke, "Don't you just love magic?"

There really was no need to answer that question. There was a snap as the bow was released. Belle watched as that arrow sailed to where Rumplestiltskin was but he vanished before it struck. He reappeared by the thief. Meanwhile, the arrow swooped through the air, turning around and then arcing high before burying itself deep into Rumplestiltskin's chest.

Belle gasped and stumbled a few steps forward. However, despite the fact that an arrow was now embedded into his heart, Rumplestiltskin only showed surprise rather than pain. The thief paid no attention to the sorcerer, just answered his own question by saying, "I know I do," and walked towards the door.

The Dark One suddenly reappeared right in front of him. "As do I!" he crowed happily and ripped the arrow free from his chest. There was no blood, no wound. He was perfectly fine.

It was magic.

Belle let herself feel relief there, though she was puzzled by the feeling. She hardly knew him, couldn't even say that she liked him really. But she was under his protection, as was her entire kingdom.

"But don't you know?" Rumplestiltskin said after he made the arrow disappear, "All magic comes with a price. And in your case, that's me."

Now the thief actually looked afraid. So was Belle, for his sake. Rumple waved his hand and the thief vanished in a cloud of purple smoke. Only his bow and quiver remained. They clattered the ground, the arrows spilling out on the carpet.

"Well, these will be nice additions to my collection," Rumplestiltskin said.

"What are you going to do to him?" The beauty questioned.

"Just question him, dearie," Rumplestiltskin said, but there was too much glee in his voice. He was smiling again, a cool, wicked smile that told her of his dark delights.

"You mean torture him?" Belle said, aghast.

"If you want to be more specific."

"You can't!" Belle shouted.

"And why not?" he asked. There was a bite to his tone but his voice was low. A warning sounded in the back of her mind, but she couldn't just let this be.

"He wasn't a thief," she blurted out.

Rumplestiltskin let out a hideous laugh and removed the wand from the quiver. "Oh really? Was he just going to borrow this for a bit and then bring it back? What is your definition of thievery, dearie?"

"I mean, he clearly wasn't here to just steal from you," Belle said, "He had a purpose. He didn't want any of the gold or jewels you have here, he just wanted the wand. There must be a reason for that."

"Reason or not, no one steals from Rumplestiltskin." Were his last words before also disappearing, leaving Belle alone.

* * *

Belle swept, doing her beat to block out the horrific noises the thief had been making all afternoon. She watched as Rumplestiltskin walked in and out of the dungeon, each time with a bloodier apron than before.

She continued to observe him, watching the Dark One as he sought out revenge on the innocent man. He had demanded for her to get him some more aprons, but she deflected that they were still on the line drying. When the opportunity arose, Belle waited until Rumplestiltksin was nowhere to be seen, she knew what she had to do.

Belle rested the broom against the table and ran down the stairs towards the dungeon. The man sat there with his hands tied, his eyes half closed.

"No!" she exclaimed, "No, not at all." She hurried over to offer the cup to his dry lips. "Here, drink this."

He gratefully swallowed the cool water, some of it dribbling out of his mouth in his haste. Quenching his thirst was only the first part. The next was simply what needed to be done. "I couldn't let this continue," she said. The rope that held him up was attached to hook in the wall. Belle raced over to it and began to unwind it's complex knot. "It's inhuman," she said.

"I couldn't agree more," the man said, "But I fear now that he'll turn his wrath on you."

"If he does I'll stand up to the beast that he is," Belle said as she tugged on the rope, "Because no one, no one…" the knot gave and the man collapsed on the ground. She hurried over to untie his hands, "…deserves to be tortured."

"Well he may beg to differ."

"Well I don't care, he doesn't frighten me." The words flowed out without a thought, but in a heartbeat she knew they were true. He didn't frighten her. She was doing this not only because it was right but because she knew Rumplestiltskin wouldn't hurt her for this. No doubt he would be furious, probably enraged, but she just _knew_ he wouldn't lay a hand on her.

"Hurry up," she said instead and held out a hand to help him to his feet, "He'll be back soon."

The man's knees shook, but he remained standing. He bolted for the door, but stopped to look back at her. "He will kill you, unless you runaway with me."

She wished she could. She knew this man could be trusted, that he would have taken her home back to her father. But the collar was an ever present reminder that she didn't have the ability. "I can't run," she said, one hand reaching up to touch the silver band at her throat, " Rumplestiltskin has bound me to this castle. Beyond that, I made a deal to serve him in exchange for him protecting my kingdom and my family from the ogres. Even if I could leave, I may survive but my family surely wouldn't." He would keep his word as long as she stayed.

To his credit, the man gave her a grave look and nodded. "All I can do is wish you luck."

"Thank you," she said, smiling at him. "Now go. Go!" she shooed him away. He raced up the stairs, surprisingly light. Hopefully the masters of the castle would hear his escape.

She didn't bother to pretend to read now. She sat still and waited as they stormed over to her. "Where is he?" Rumplestiltskin snapped, his face set in stone.

"Gone," she said simply. Her voice came out stronger than she had hoped. "I let him go."

"What?" he barked.

"He was a thief!" Rumplestiltskin reminded her.

"Which doesn't give you the right to kill him." Even in her kingdom, the death sentence was only delivered to murderers. Besides, she didn't think he was a thief. Not exactly.

"It gives me every right!" he growled. "Oh let me guess, _you_ think he's a hero," he pointed at her, "stealing from me for some noble cause. You read too many books, dearie!" He waved one hand and the purple cloud engulfed her lap. The book vanished, slipping from her fingers like it had never existed. "There," he hissed, "Maybe that will stop filling your head with poisonous thoughts!"

That stung her straight into her heart. She felt her cheeks grow hot at her eyes begin to fill with tears, but she swallowed them back. He did not respect tears. He wanted her to show courage and so she would.

"I didn't free him because of what I read in my books," she said, "I saw good in him." "That man only wanted to escape with his life."

"Oh is that what you thought?" he mocked her, his eyes snapping with fire, "Our thief escaped with more than just his life." He gestured towards one of the pedestals, the very one that had held the magic wand. Now it stood empty.

Belle stood up slowly, trying and failing to hide her surprise. She had truly thought he would just leave. She felt a bit betrayed at the thief now for using her gift to steal a treasure.

"You were tricked, you foolish, gullible girl!" He hissed, angrily.

Belle looked back at the empty pegs that had cradled the wand. A wand. He'd risked his freedom for some trophy…or had he? There was piles of silver and gold in the castle and all he took was the wand. He'd risked his life for a wand, why do that? Why not take the gold if he was an ordinary thief?

"Th—there must be an explanation," she said, her voice not as firm as before, "We don't know why he needed that wand." She was certain that it was only the wand he needed and it must have been for a good reason.

"He took the wand because he wanted magic!" he snapped. He turned around then, shouting at her all the while, "People who steal magic never have good intentions."

His words struck her oddly. They almost sounded…personal. It was just another example of what a mystery he truly was.

"You don't know what's in a persons heart until you truly know them." Belle argued, remembering the times when her mother used to say that.

"Oh we'll see what's in his heart alright, when I pierce it with an arrow! And since I am a showman, I will do it with his bow. And since this is your fault, you get to come with me and watch as the blood flows down his corpse."

"There's a snow storm! We cannot track someone in this weather." Belle protested. She met his gaze for a moment, his eyes cold and harsh.

"We'll just see about that."

* * *

They rode for hours, mostly in silence. Belle decided that holding her tongue for now was the best course of action, despite her certainty that he meant her no harm. If anything, this little trip proved it.

Finally he spoke after stewing for so long, "We're losing track of him. This forest is too thick."

Belle lifted her head, unable to contain the way the corners of her mouth curved into a smile. "Maybe we should return home."

"What? And let the thief escape?" His eyes were hard and cruel. "What would people think if I spared the life of someone who stole from me?"

"That there's actually a _man_ hiding behind the beast." She knew a part of her believed that. Someone who loved his son and never punished a servant for her disobedience couldn't be as monstrous as the rumors claimed.

"There isn't," he said quickly.

"Then why didn't you kill me when I freed the prisoner."

"Well I would have," he said, "but good help these days is really hard to find, plus my son is quite fond of you."

The carriage suddenly came to a halt. Rumplestiltksin walked out, the quiver of bows attached onto his back and the thief's bow in hand. Belle followed, covering her face as the snow whipped against her pale face.

She knew now why he had stopped, in the short distance away from them underneath a tree stood the thief. There was a wagon, Belle noticed, where another person lay on top of it, a woman. The thief had the wand out and was slowly dragging it over the her.

Magic hummed through the air, prickling Rumplestiltskin's senses. Light magic, disgusting. But with each pass of the wand, the woman's skin gained some color. Her coughing subsided and death retreated from her doorstep. The thief gave the now healed woman a tender smile, full of love and joy. It made Rumplestiltskin hate him even more.

"I'm right about him," Belle babbled with renewed glee, "About why he stole the wand. He did it so he could heal the woman he loves."

The way she said it was full of romance and happy dreams, stupid girl. Love never turned out the way one thought. He knew that lesson better than anyone. "He's still a thief," he reminded her.

"And she would have died he hadn't stolen your wand!" She rolled her eyes.

"And now _he_ gets to die!" The rage was mixing with something else now, jealousy. He didn't want this man to be happy. He didn't deserve it. No one did. "And she can tell all of Sherwood Forest what happens when you cross Rumplestiltskin!"

Then they both noticed something. Snow surrounded them everywhere, covering every bit of the ground. But what they came to realize that they weren't on land. They were on a lake, a frozen lake.

"Rumplestiltskin" Belle whispered as she gazed down to her feet, feeling each crack of the ice below her. They both heard the ice give out and Belle soon found herself surrounded by icy blue water that was once beneath her.

The water stunned her whole body like a million tiny needles piercing her flesh all at once. The water pushed down on Belle from all sides, as she fought to push herself above the surface. She felt her hands touch the cold thickness on the ice, banging and praying that the pitiful strength of her hands could break the barrier. The more she struggled the more disorientated she got.

Belle pushed with her arms and legs but he could find no leverage, for all he knew Belle was pushing herself further down. Her lungs burned for more air and even though he knew he would get none her body still took a breath. Cold water filled her lungs and blood pounded behind the beauty's eyes.

The darkness engulfed her and she had nothing left in him to fight anymore. He gave into the darkness and let the water take him.

Rumplestiltskin watched as the beauty fell, letting out a shriek as she went under into the freezing unbearable water. He jumped in, without much hesitation, keeping his eyes open for any sign of her.

He saw her, unconscious and being pushed further down by the current. Rumple grabbed a hold of her waist and pushed her towards the broken ice, throwing her back up onto the land.

His eyes scanned her with desperation, she looked pale and nearly purple. Her lips had gone pale, contrasting to the usually redness of them.

"Princess?" He questioned, gently tapping her cheek.

Nothing.

"Belle?" he shook her shoulders a bit harder. Then all of a sudden Belle spat up water and coughed violently, gasping for air. "Shh, it's alright" Rumple almost cooed, holding part of her head on his lap.

"You- you rescued me" she stated rather than asking the question. With the touch of his hand he gave her a fur coat. She wrapped herself immediately, her breathing labored and her lugs burning. Her teeth chattered even harder when she realized that Rumplestiltskin had not gone after the thief after all.

"You're not going after him?" Belle croaked.

"No, we have to get you home before you freeze to death."

What happened next he didn't expect. Belle wrapped her arms around him quickly, lugging herself into his embrace, nearly knocking him over. The Dark One froze at her touch. He was unsure if Belle was so freezing that she had to confide in him for warmth, or just plain thankful for the rescue.

"Why didn't you didn't go after the thief?"

"I don't know." He admitted, replaying back the event in his mind. He could of easily taken the bow and hit the thief directly in the heart. Why then did he not? He sure wanted to, but something seemed to take his mind off of it. He thought of Belle falling through the ice, it was unexpected. He wanted to save her.

"You spared his life." The beauty said, the curve of her lips slightly turning upwards.

"I did no such thing." He insisted, putting on the well known facade of the Dark One.

"You could of killed him, but you didn't."

"Would you preferred that I did, princess?" Rumplestiltskin questioned, harshly. "At least then I would have two problems taken care of at once."

"Belle" she interjected, "my name is Belle." She retorted to his coldness. "Why must you always be so- so-" she stuttered, her teeth shaking and clamping together, until a gust of purple smoke surround them.

They returned to the dark castle, where Belle was able to curl herself up in front of the hot fire to defrost. The flames of yellow and orange crackled as she allowed herself to relax.

Rumplestiltskin had pulled her out of the water, the Dark One himself. The single person every man feared in the Enchanted Forest feared had saves her life. Maybe he had regretted it, but maybe, just maybe Rumplestiltskin had a heart after all.

**Hey everyone! Thank you all so much for reviews and follows, you all keep me writing! I plan on introducing a villain soon and am planning out this story bit by bit. I will try and update weekly as I have before. So leave a review and let me know what you think of the story so far!**

**Next Chapter: When Belle tries to thank Rumple for saving her life, she accidentally stumbles upon a magical item: powerful handcuffs that will cuff them together... for the entire day.**


	5. Chains and Choices

**Hey guys! So I've figured out the mystery as to why the character of Cora was miraculously somehow added into this particular story. I've been working on another story which has Cora in it and a tiny chunk of that story was put in here by mistake. I was trying to update the story for everyone as quick as I could and I only proofread certain parts. Sorry for any confusion! I also want to thank everyone for the reviews and follows and favorites for this story. All the feedback and support make me so humbled. Enjoy this next chapter and leave another review and let me know what you think!**

Belle awoke the next day from her well rested sleep and felt strange. She was alive and well and it was all thanks to Rumplestiltskin.

In fact, she had been so grateful she even took it as far as to hug him. In the desperate moment just seconds after being rescued from the water, she had thrown her arms around his neck. She was his maid, his caretaker- nothing more. Yet, Belle found herself spending time dwelling on the event, allowing it to remain in the back of her mind like a virus that continued to return.

Belle assorted and prepared Rumplestiltskin's tea like she had every morning. She wandered around the castle with the tray in her hands, absent minded and curious, until she found him in his laboratory upstairs. Her heart fluttered as she approached him, taking a wary hesitant breath. Belle took it upon herself to lighten her footsteps in hopes of not disturbing whatever he was working on.

"Good morning," Belle said, uncertainly. "I brought you some tea."

He nodded, gazing up from his practice and stiffly turning towards her as Belle poured. He accepted the teacup in silence, drawing it to him with both hands as if for the warmth of it. He looked at her, at last, turning in the chair and putting the cup back on the tray. Daylight added shades of green and gold to his eyes, she noticed, and it made his pupils too narrow.

"Did you sleep poorly?" Belle dared to start a conversation, "you look tired."

"I don't really sleep." his voice was brittle and dry. "And the dark bags under your eyes tell me you have the same inconvenience as I."

"No, I slept rather well." She confessed. She had slept better than she had been able to in weeks, without the fear of invasion and the dreadful sounds of battle moving ever closer. There was also the crying and sleepless nights that had occurred almost the entire first week at the dark castle, the restless tossing and turning of being in an unfamiliar place. One night of peaceful rest wouldn't be enough to catch up on all the other sleepless nights.

"What are you working on?" She questioned innocently, observing the various viles and brewing bright colored potions around them.

"I thought I told you this room was out of bounds" he replied defensively, but his words did not seem irritated or angry.

"I came to thank you, actually- for saving my life." She felt her voice echo through the rest of the silence. "It's no matter" he brushed her off.

"It was to me" Belle admitted, unsatisfied with his reply, "I thought about it all night, I could of easily drowned yesterday but I didn't, and it is all thanks to you."

"What good what that be too me? I would no longer have a maid."

_Defensive_. Belle concluded._ Rumplestiltskin is being defensive and someone is only defensive when you are scared of something._

_Was the Dark One afraid of her?_

His walls were up higher than she had ever seen on a person before. The tales of the Dark One included a fearless man, one who did not care about anything, but Belle knew this not to be true.

"Perhaps you are right, it would sure be a shame if I was not here to dust all these thousands of old filthy knickknacks." She gestured to the endless shelves of objects.

He gave a slight nod and glanced away, leaving Belle feeling rather frustrated. "Look at all of these things! Do you even use any of them?" She asked, utterly fascinated by the ancient antiques. Then out of the corner of her eye she noticed an attractive gleam. Silver and gold sparkled in the light as she reached up and grabbed a shiny chain.

"Don't touch-" Rumplestiltskin interjected her action, "I need to start keeping everything out of reach so that curious little maids don't stumble into anything they shouldn't." He growled.

"What are these?" the beauty ignored the beast and pulled out the expensive looking handcuffs, "they are beautiful."

Rumplestiltskin turned around quickly, quick enough that their arms touched from the jerky movement. Belle watched in awe as golden light sparked at the touch, igniting her left and his right hand together with the chain. The Dark One stared down at what had just happened and by the look on his face, he was nor happy or impressed.

"What did you do?" He hissed at her foolishness.

"What did I do?! You're the one who keeps pointless objects like this in the castle!" She attempted to break free of the grasp of the handcuffs, tugging and pulling, suddenly feeling and overwhelming amount of claustrophobia. "How do we get them off? Don't you have some magic remedy to get us free?" she asked, desperately hoping that Rumple would get them out of the mess she had just created.

"I am afraid that is not possible." He answered.

"What do you mean it's not possible?!" She panicked, continuing to pull and twist in hopes that the Jain would break and they would be set free from each other.

"The magic restricts the handcuffs to be permanently bound for a single day." He explained.

"We are stuck with each other for the entire day? There must be a way to undo its magic!" Belle protested. "Indeed not. I'm afraid that you are stuck with me, dearie. And it seems as if I have some deals to make today." With the snap of his fingers, Rumplestiltskin prepared their cloaks to leave.

Belle did not have any time to protest his request. "Here" he placed a black thick cloak over top of their hands, "now no one can witness this humiliating experience." He said.

"Where are we going?" She lifted up part of her cloak to fix her curled hair.

"I have some business to take care of outside of the castle, and since you got us into this mess you will accompany me, that's all you need to know, dearie."

_This can't be good, _Belle thought, _last time he made me go somewhere I almost drowned. _Who knew what they would get into this time_._

* * *

The snowstorm had stopped. The valley was covering in powdery white fluffy snow. The reflection off the snow made Belle feel as if she were going to go blind. It made a crunching noise under Belle's feet as she walked. Her cloak dragged behind her as she walked, leaving a trail in the path behind her.

"What kind of deal do you have out in the middle of nowhere?" She questioned, observing the tall trees and bushes around her.

"I have a deal with a man who calls himself the sheriff of Sherwood Forest." Rumplestiltskin responded, dryly.

"What business do you have with him?"

"It is not your concern, dearie. You are too curious and ask far too many questions. You are to be quiet and obedient, is that clear?" His dark brown eyes glared at her.

They waited for what seemed to be forever in a plaguing silence. Suddenly, they could here the click clack noises of horseshoes and Belle knew the mystery person had arrived.

The sheriff rode on his horse, looking ragged and drunk. Belle watched as he opened his flask and took a mouthful of ale. With a satisfied sigh, the sheriff got off his horse and stepped down to meet Rumplestiltskin.

"Well, well, the Dark One in my woods." He spoke amusingly.

"That's what happens when you call someone here, dearie." Rumple mocked.

"Yes, I remember summoning you here, but who is this beautiful creature you've brought with you?" The man cooed, even going as far as to trace his dirty fingernails along Belle's porcelain skin.

"I obtained her in one of my deals."

"My oh my" the sheriff hummed, "I wish I had a plaything, especially as gorgeous as this one."

Belle heard a low growl come from Rumplestiltskin's throat. Usually during deals his childish giggle would conquer any other sort of emotion, she had learned that from her own deal. She knew that only when he was extremely irritated would he make a sound that reflect such. She continued to stand behind him like he had instructed her so. Quiet and obedient.

"Do you have what I asked for?" Rumplestiltskin barked.

"Indeed." The man licked his lips while staring at Belle, taking another large gulp out of his flask.

Rumple threw the man a small bag obviously filled with heavy gold coins. When the Dark One noticed the sheriff seem unsatisfied, he asked, "is there something the matter?"

"I think I would like to change our matter of payment"

"What did you have in mind?" Rumplestiltskin showed only boredom at the notion. "What do you want?"

The sheriff pointed past him. "A night with your wench."

Belle gasped, her entire body seizing up at his words. He couldn't be serious. But one look into his dark, hungry eyes told her he absolutely was.

Rumplestiltskin turned to look at her, for once she could read his evident surprise. What would he do? He has said he wouldn't kill her, but he would he give her to this man as punishment for her freeing the prisoner? Her heart froze inside her chest as he turned back to the sheriff.

"She's not for sale," he said. Belle released the breath she'd been holding. Silently, she took back every thought she'd ever had of his cruelty. Her faith in him was restored. The sheriff laughed. "My prize really isn't worth her company?"

The Dark One shook his head. "Please," he scoffed. "How about twenty minutes?" The sheriff pleaded, "I will fuck her quickly if that pleases you."

Belle paled as his lascivious gaze, her heart plummeting to her slippers. Gods, would they agree to this?

She took a step back, bumping into Rumplestiltskin. Belle knew that he could tell she was trembling nervously, trembling like the scared little girl she tried so hard not to be. Belle wanted to run, but there was no escape. If she ran she'd die. Of course death might be preferable to this. "Actually," Rumplestiltskin said, "I have another idea."

He waved his hand in a flourish and there was a cloud of purple smoke surrounding it. When it cleared a slippery, pink tongue rested in his palm. The sheriff put his fingers in his mouth, but they only found teeth. Belle's own tongue itched as Rumplestiltskin pinched his fingers around the sheriff's loose one. The man croaked but to no avail. Without his tongue, he couldn't speak.

Rumplestiltskin giggled. "I propose a new deal, I give you this back and in return, you Give me the valuable possession we discussed." The sheriff sputtered as he waved his tongue at him. "You ought to be more careful with your possessions. Do you agree to my terms?"

The sheriff groaned and gargled. "What was that?" Rumplestiltskin asked, holding one hand to his ear as if it was his hearing that was the problem. The sheriff groaned some more, this time with more earnest. "I'll take that as a yes then."

With the snap of his fingers, Rumplestiltskin return the sheriff's tongue in an instant. "Now give me what I want" he ordered, irritated.

The sheriff let out a loud startled gasp. He fully acknowledged the reappearance of his muscle and stared at the Dark One with extreme fear and hostility. He dug into his pocket taking out a rectangular brown device. "Here, take it"

Rumplestiltskin accepted the object with ease, a wicked smile forming on his lips. The sheriff left immediately after, absolutely terrified that Rumplestiltskin would do anything else to him.

"What is that?" Belle pointed at the object in his hand.

"It is a very valuable compass." He replied, mesmerized by his new addition to his collection.

"A compass?" She repeated, unsure of its overall worth.

"Indeed."

"You traded a bag of gold.. for a compass?" Belle said, shocked.

"This is not some regular compass, dearie. It has magical properties. It will point me to the thing I want most."

"And what would that be?" Belle raised her eyebrow.

"More power of course." He shot her a half smile that sent shivers down her spine. But somehow, Belle knew that deep down inside of Rumplestiltskin, inside that dark heart of his, it was not power that he needed.

* * *

The snow had started up again once they had returned to the dark castle. The bonded golden chain of the handcuffs seemed stronger than ever when they returned from Sherwood Forest."

"I've heard only bad things about you. The people from court, my father, the kings men, they have all told me stories about you." Belle broke the silence. "Oh did they now?" The Dark One cooed, "they told you all about the beast Rumplestiltskin, hmm?"

"It doesn't matter what they told me. I like to make assumptions for myself." Belle responded.

"And what assumptions have you gathered so far, princess?" He questioned, placing his intimidating stare on her.

"I think that you are not as dark as you want people to believe." she challenged.

"Oh no?"

"In fact, I think you are warming up to me."

"Nonsense" he made a scoffing noise, that only further confirmed his fondness. "I could throw you in the dungeon if I really wanted to, dearie!"

"You won't," she said firmly.

"Really now? What makes you so certain?"

Belle squared her shoulders and stared at him with the same look a brave knight has before going into battle. "Because there is good in you."

He let out his shrill giggle at her comment. "I'm the Dark One. There is nothing good in me."

"Well I say there is." She protested otherwise.

"Then you are a fool."

Belle lifted her chin in defiance. "You could have killed me when I release the prisoner, or when I was drowning- even today when that man wanted to- to-"

"We made a deal that you would _live_ here in exchange for your family's life. I never break my word. You are mine, no one else's."

"Exactly." Now it was his turn to stare at her queerly. "You have honor," she said, "A truly dark person wouldn't care if his word was good or not. He would only seek what he desires, but you keep your word. That must mean there is some good in you somewhere."

"Oh?" he questioned, leaning forward so their noses almost brushed together, "And what do you intend to do if you find some, hmm?"

She didn't say anything. Her mouth opened just a little and she gazed at him with those lovely blue eyes. There was a spark of something deep inside of his chest, a tiny prick of some emotion he couldn't put a name to. He didn't take the time to ponder it. "Well, good luck finding it, dearie."

She growled at him, yanking her arm to pull him the direction she wished to go and for once, he allowed her to whisk him away.

* * *

The sun had eventually sailed across the horizon and night took over the sky. The bonded chains of the handcuffs finally had real eased and both Belle and Rumplestiltskin were free from each other at last.

Belle walked down the hallway, a laundry basket in hand and saw Baelfire, up past bedtime, wide awake in his bed.

"What are you doing up this late, Bae?" She called.

"I can't sleep." He answered, "I've been trying for hours."

"Hm, I might have something that could fix that." She gave a smile, leaving the room briefly, returning with a large brown book in her hands.

"This," she began, "Is a book of fairy tales" Belle explained. "My mother gave it to be when I was very young. There was not a restless night where it wouldn't help me sleep."

"It is quite lovely." His eyes examined the cover, then turned to look up at her.

"Do you miss your mother back in Avonlea?" Bae questioned, innocently.

Belle looked down at her feet sadly, her father attempted do his best not to mention her mother. She had passed away when she as so young that she barely remembered what she had looked like. The dukes and kings men at court often told her that she was a spitting image to the Queen, but she didn't know. "My mother died when I was very young."

"My mother left when I was very young." Baelfire spoke, but he did not show any sign of regret or sadness.

"I'm sorry," she gently rubbed the top if his back, "how about I read you one of my favourite stories?" Belle suggested, immediately catching Baelfire's interest.

"What's it about?"

"It's a story. About two star crossed lovers, a beautiful princess and a handsome Prince. They were unlikely to fall in love, but eventually they wished to get married, much to his fathers dismay. It was the Prince'a father who commanded they stay away from each other, but when the princess refused, she was killed. So devastated, the prince abandoned his duty as the future king and went off to war and was killed. but they're love was so strong, they were bonded for all of eternity. Lifetime after lifetime they would be reborn, only to find each other and finally get the happily ever after they deserved."

"That's kind of a sad story" Bae admitted, fascinated to know more.

"Yes." Belle agreed, "but the story teaches us something. It teaches us that love is never what it seems, and even though some people may be lost to is we shouldn't give up hope."

"Here" Belle gently closed the book and handed it to Bae. "I want you to have it."

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely" she smiled, "what kind of person would I be if I kept those adventure stories all to myself."

Bae lugged himself forwards, wrapping his tiny arms around the beauty's neck. "Thank you, Belle."

But what Belle and Baelfire did not know, was that Rumplestiltskin stood down the hall, his hands rested on the nearest wall listening in. Maybe Belle was not as miserable as he thought she had been living in the dark castle. Maybe, just maybe, this could be the place she could call home.

**Next Chapter: Rumplestiltskin catches Belle when she falls off the ladder while hanging up curtains; Belle is taught how to spin; an old flame from Rumplestiltskin's past is revealed.**


	6. The Spin of the Wheel

Belle could not compete with Baelfire's drawings, the princess knew. When he had invited her to draw, she expected the normal expectations of a nine year old. However, Bae was not ordinary nor was he a normal little boy. On the piece of thin canvas that lay out in front of him, a beautiful sketch was penciled, high-tipped mountains and swinging branches of a sulking willow tree.

Belle looked down at her own childish drawing, letting out a defeated sigh. She truly was an awful artist, regardless of Bae's enthusiastic encouragement.

"You are much better than I am at this." Belle confessed, taking a brief glance at her pathetic portrait. She had wanted it to be a horse, but now it looked no better than a deranged three-legged mutant.

When Rumplestiltskin entered the room, everything became even quieter than it had been before. Belle held her breath, anticipating the moment when he would order her to do some laborious job she did not have stamina to do.

"The curtains are looked rather... dirty." He pointed out, "they need to be cleaned."

"But papa, Belle is drawing with me." Baelfire said.

"She is a maid and she must do her duty," Rumple interjected, "surely you understand, son." He took a seat at his wheel, preparing to spin his ordinary straw into strands of expensive priceless gold.

Belle abandoned her drawing, following Rumplestiltskin's instruction, and headed towards the dusty old curtains. She pulled the ladder and set it directly in front, giving it a slight wiggle to make sure it was sturdy enough to stand upon.

Foot by foot she stepped up until the top of the window was reachable. From down below she could hear that Rumplestiltskin had approached the dining table.

"You didn't draw this did you?" Rumple picked up and held out Belle's art to his son.

He shook his head, "no, papa, Belle drew that."

"Hmm, I thought lady's were suppose to be distinguished in all art forms." Rumple snorted.

"And I thought Dark One's were supposed to spend their days working on their evil mastermind plots- not spending every hopeless second mesmerized by a spinning wheel." She paused for a split moment, "why is it that you spin so much?" She asked.

"It's calming" he replied, simply. Rumplestiltskin then turned his attention to the little maid, struggling with the task at hand. He watched as the ladder began to shake and wobble from side to side.

He got an unsettling feeling in his stomach as he walked closer to her. He watched the beauty climb higher and higher up the old ladder. "I think I was wrong to ask you to do this, you may come down." He spoke, trying to hide the worry and concern hidden in his voice.

"I might as well finish the job" Belle responded. Then, all of a sudden, she felt a horrible gut wrenching feeling deep down. She felt the ladder start to give out.

Belle let out a childish shriek as she felt herself falling.

"Papa catch her!" Baelfire yelled.

Belle waited for the inevitable crash on the hard floor. She shut her eyes and free fell right down towards the floor. The beauty then felt herself being lifted up by a pair of arms.

_Rumplestiltskin's arms._

Belle allowed herself to squint open her eyes when the anticipated fall did not occur. They found themselves face to face, simply staring at one another, caught up in each others embrace.

"Thank you" was all Belle managed to spit out.

Rumplestiltskin cleared his throat nervously, "it's no matter, really." He then put her down gently back onto her feet. She felt extremely dizzy and lightheaded, but she didn't believe it was from the fall.

* * *

Later that same afternoon, while Belle was preparing his afternoon tea, Rumplestiltkin was once again spinning time away at his wheel. She noticed a simple piece of straw on the ground where her feet lay. Belle carefully bent down and took the flat straw and fiddling it in her hands.

"They say that you turn straw into gold," she said, fearing the silence more than she feared to speak to him. "Is that true?"

"Yes." He drew the length of the straw between his left finger and thumb, smoothing it, then crumpled it into a ball in his fist. When he opened his hand again there were four tiny coins in place of the thread. Belle gasped, delighted, but he closed his fist again and the coins disappeared. "An amusement," he said, and Belle stole another glance at his face. He looked sheepish and avoided her gaze. "Nothing more."

She took a deep wary breath in. "How does it work?"?"

Her voice was soft, but it still startled him. Pausing the wheel, Rumpelstiltskin looked up to see Belle. She was in her usual place for the evening, preparing his tea and curled up in front of the large fire with a thick book, but the novel was now closed and her eyes, bright with curiosity, were fixed on him.

"How does what work?" he asked, deciding to indulge her.

"The wheel. The spinning. The turning straw into gold." Tucking her feet under her, she scooted closer to him. "How does it work?"

He laughed at her question, both so simple and yet so utterly complex that even the most seasoned alchemist would have difficulty explaining. "Why, with magic, dearie!" he teased, grinning down at her. "How else?"

"I know _that_," she retorted, giving his leg a gentle swat. "But what _kind_ of magic? Is it yours? Is it the wheel's? I mean," and here her voice lowered slightly, "could _anyone_ do it? Or does the spinner need magic?"

"Ahhhhh, now I see!" He shook a playful finger in her face. "Want to compete with me, do you?"

Pushing herself up, she reached out and gently touched the wheel. "It just…fascinates me, that's all. I was curious."

"You're _always_ curious, dearie," he retorted, and they both chuckled at the truth, but then his voice grew pensive. "To answer your question, I've never allowed anyone else to spin at my wheel. It's my greatest treasure, you see, my biggest prize, and you of all people know how possessive I am over my trinkets."

"Oh, of course." He avoided her eyes, but the disappointment in her voice was impossible to miss. "It is your trademark, after all. It's perfectly understandable."

She dropped her hand from the wheel and turned to go back to her book when he spoke again, his voice deceptively casual.

"Of course, no one has ever asked as prettily as you, and I suppose you _do_ deserve a little treat for all your hard work."

Belle whirled back around, her lips breaking into a wide smile. "Truly?"

Rumpelstiltskin stood, then gestured to his stool with a grand flourish. "All yours, my lady." His eyes twinkled. "Let's see what you can do, shall we?"

Almost shivering with anticipation, Belle seated herself before the large wheel, arranging her skirts so they didn't impede her movements. Rumpelstiltskin stood behind her and gently, almost hesitantly, lifted her arms and placed her hands properly on the wheel.

"It does have its own magic," he said softly, pressing her fingers slightly into the wood, "but that enchantment is not enough. The true power must come from the spinner, from her…desires. Her wishes."

"You mean…you mean I need to _want_ the straw to become gold?" she asked, confused. "That's all?"

"Not just _want_, dearie. Believe. _Know_. You must spin with conviction, with confidence. After centuries, it's become second nature to me, so hardly any concentration is required. I simply know the straw will become gold. But in the beginning, I had to convince myself of that result." He taped a long finger against her forehead. "Real magic comes from here, you see, not from silly incantations or enchanted objects."

Belle nodded slowly, this revelation more fascinating than anything she could have ever imagined.

"Keep your movements smooth and even," he continued, beginning to turn the wheel slowly. "Be mindful of your intentions. Know what you want. The wheel will do the rest."

Though Belle did her best to focus solely on the task at hand, to say she wasn't distracted by the man behind her would be a grievous lie. After catching her in his arms from her ungraceful plunge off the ladder, Rumpelstiltskin had been very careful not to touch her for more than the briefest of moments.

This was the most prolonged contact they'd had since her tumble, and she was discovering she liked it _far_ too much. His hand was warm and gentle on hers, and his chest just barely grazed her back as he leaned over to adjust her arms. He smelled of straw and woods and something spicy that she could only assume was his own magical scent.

Despite an almost irresistible urge to learn back against him, Belle's innate curiosity was too strong to pass up this opportunity. She forced her mind back to his instructions, on keeping her arms relaxed and her touch light. He spun the wheel in a slow, smooth motion, then reached down to hand her a small bundle of straw.

"Remember to believe," he whispered.

Biting her lip, Belle threaded the straw into the wheel, trying to envision it turning to bright gold thread as it did for him every night. At first, nothing happened, and the straw fell limply to the floor. But Belle found herself eventually lured into an almost trance-like state, hypnotized by the spinning of the wheel and Rumpelstiltskin's soft voice in her ear and warm hand on her back.

She spun and spun, losing all concept of time –he truly _hadn't_ been lying when he said he used his wheel to forget! – when suddenly the straw felt cool to her touch and she looked down to see a single piece of sparkling gold thread.

"Congratulations, dearie," he murmured, his mouth a breath away from her ear. "Looks like you've got the golden touch."

Belle gasped in wonder, feeling like a child who'd just been given a special prize. Gently, as though afraid any sudden movements would undo its transformation, Belle ran her finger over the gold. Though as flexible as normal thread, there was a slight heaviness to it, and a lovely smoothness that confirmed this was more than simply gold-colored thread.

"It's…beautiful," she whispered. "And it's real. I did this, and it's really real!"

"Yes" he repeated, watching as the sunbeams from the window shimmered in her soft brown hair, "it's very real."

* * *

Deep in the dark woods of the Enchanted Forest sat an old abandoned cabin, plagued with moss and overgrown leafy vines. A red headed woman watched out her window, her skin growing green with jealousy.

_He had picked Regina instead if her._ He had thrown her to the side like a piece of trash, ignored and alone. A loud low squeal of a monkey sounded from the corner of the dim lit room.

"He needs me, he just doesn't know it yet." The woman hissed to the creature, continuing to pace back and forth. For those five months of spending time with Rumplestiltskin she knew they were meant to be. She did not care that he had told her otherwise. He was a very distinctive man, a powerful sorcerer that could do anything with just the simple flick of his hand.

Rumplestiltskin would be hers no matter what. She would do anything to get him back. And if anyone stood in her way, Zelena would kill them.

**Hey everyone! Thank you so much for all the reviews and follows, it truly makes me light up every time. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I will try and update the next chapter by latest August 30th. Please leave another review and let me know your ideas/thoughts on the story! Thanks for reading!**

**Next Chapter: When Belle is ordered to pick up Baelfire from school, she is shocked to learn he is being bullied by older kids. Will Belle help Bae find the courage to stand up to them? Meanwhile Zelena and Rumplestiltskin have a run in with each other.**


	7. Sore Knuckles

Belle woke up before the sun, in the comfortable room that she begun to call her home. She was usually the first to awaken, or so she thought. She had never actually left the premises of her bedroom until she heard the sound of footsteps by her door. It was warm and snug under her soft bed covers, which kept out the frosty breeze from the snow outside. She let out a gentle yawn and turned herself, stretching like a feline.

Her room was still dark as she searched for her pillow. It must have fallen off the bed at some point in the night, along with most of the covers. Though the beauty did not remember her dream, she could tell it was one jam packed with action, according to her bed's messy condition.

As she searched for her absent pillow, her arm traced over the book she had been reading the night before. It was a beautiful tale called _The Frog Prince. _It was about a beautiful princess, who one day discovered a green frog in her palace gardens. She heard the frog speak to her, _"I am not who I appear to be, let your red lips bless me with transforming me back into the handsome prince that I once was."_ The princess agreed to kiss the frog and was true to his word and was turned back into a man. They were married and lived happily ever after.

Belle always had enjoyed stories that strayed from the original cliches. However, questions haunted her over curious mind after the tale was over. Questions that may never be answered to her full satisfaction. _Would the handsome prince resort back to his amphibian-like qualities?_ _How long had he been eating flies out in the garden? _

Then, when the beauty's hand finally found her missing pillow, as touched the feathered softness of the cotton and tossed it back onto her bed. When she got up, she immediately searched for her slippers. She put on her blue peasant dress and ties her hair back in a white ribbon before exiting the room. She found Rumplestiltskin spinning in the main hall like every morning. She watched his careful technique like he had shown her only few days ago. It was incredible, the feeling of magic, of simply turning your hands and creating something beautiful.

"Good morning" Belle called, careful not to spill his tea. She placed it carefully on the table nearest to him and stood up straight, humming along to a familiar tune.

"You are rather chipper this morning, dearie" Rumplestiltskin observed, welcoming the soft sound of her singing. "I'm feel good today and I've decided to go with it." She replied with an undeniable smile coming upon her lips. Then as she gazed down she saw that she had poured the tea for Rumplestiltskin into the cup she had damaged the first week she had been at the castle.

"Oh! I accidentally gave you the broken cup, if you give me a moment then I can go fetch another-" she started, but she was abruptly cut off by him.

"Nonsense, that cup will do just fine." He insisted. Then after a few seconds he added, "I like it, it has character". Rumplestiltskin was absolutely right. Even though the little piece of porcelain ceramic was damaged, Belle found the chip to be charming. She reached over to the tea tray and pulled out some sugar and honey. With a little silver spoon she stirred the cup and handed it to him, appreciating the warmth the cup provided.

Belle took the initiative to look around the room, noticing the dust on some of the nearby decor and vintage antiques. "Did you need me to dust today?" Belle asked. "Actually, I have something else for you to do." Rumple began, "Baelfire needs to be dropped off and picked up from school. He should be ready anytime now."

_Dropped off at school? Rumplestiltskin had never entrusted her with such a responsible task before, _Belle thought, and know he is wanting her to take the boy down to the village all by herself. After what happened with the last caretaker, she thought Rumplestiltskin would have been a bit paranoid about the situation at hand, but he seemed fine.

Belle did what she was asked, she waited until Baelfire was dressed and ready and even got his knitted mittens and scarf for him. They walked peacefully down the gravel road leading away from the castle, the snow treading beneath their feet. Her green cloak drug along the ground as they approached the small brown schoolhouse that resided near the peasant town.

"I was always home schooled" Belle explained, starting up a conversation, "my father insisted on hiring my own private tutor, I used to spend countless hours in the library reading, perhaps that's what created my fondness for books."

"You were lucky then." Bae said.

"You don't like school?" She questioned, as if the thought was utterly preposterous.

"It's not school that I don't like it's just-" Then before Bae had the chance to finish, they both turned their attention to a commotion nearby. Three larger boys came running towards them, squawking and laughing as they went along.

"Well, well, looks like someone's books are covered in snow!" A larger boy taunted, knocking Baelfire's books right out of his hand.

"Hey!" Belle hissed, angrily, attempting to follow the other child to scold him, but Bae held her back. She observed the other children, most were quite larger than Baelfire, older and some a lot fatter. A whole group of them. "Someone needs to teach that little twerp a lesson! Are you alright, Bae?"

"Yeah" he responded, "they've been picking on me for weeks."

"You should talk to your teacher then" Belle suggested, "Perhaps your teacher will talk to those miscreants about their rude behavior."

"It's not that easy, I don't expect you to understand." He started walked away towards the schoolhouse to join the other children, but Belle gently grabbed the back of his shoulder and pulled him back towards her.

"Bullies are never easy to face", she began, "I remember when I was fifteen, the royal family used to host a ball. There were these two older girls, Cecelia and Marcella the heiresses of Pemberton" Belle imitated immaturely, "they would unzip my dress, undo my ribbons and call me awful names. They made me feel horrible every single chance they got."

"What did you do?" Baelfire asked.

"I told my father," she admitted, "violence is never the answer when dealing with a bully. My father sorted everything out and I suggest you tell your father too, he will want to help you." Belle insisted.

"Please don't tell my father anything." He pleaded, "We both know what drastic measures he would go to protect me."When Belle seemed reluctant to agree, Baelfire begged, "Please Belle, promise you won't say anything."

"Alright, I promise." She agreed, reluctantly. But deep down in her heart she knew something bigger was at hand here, and she needed to put a stop to it. Belle would put a stop to those terrible bullies and get then to leave Bae alone, she just needed to come up with a game plan first.

* * *

Rumplestiltskin watched as Belle paced all around the castle when she returned. She had been so content this morning, chipper and cheerful, and now, the princess was a fiery ball of rage. "Are you alright, Belle?" He questioned, her unnatural behaviour putting him on edge.

"What? Yes, I'm fine." She answered sharply, continuing to make him nervous by her intolerable pacing. He knew that the beauty was deep in thought about something, he could nearly see the little wheels turning her mind as the steam would shoot out her ears.

"You seem.. disturbed." He pointed out.

"I'm alright" she promised him, giving him a brief nod. She had promised Baelfire she would not tell Rumplestiltskin anything about what she had seen back at the schoolhouse, and no matter what, she would keep her promise. Rumple eventually dismissed himself and found business somewhere out, maybe a stroll out in the castle gardens would calm is nerves, maybe it was just the therapeutic recreation he needed to relax.

That afternoon, Belle walked and waited in the very same spot to pick Bae from school. Her heart was beating abnormally, she realized, she didn't know what she would do if she saw him get bullied like that again. Her bright blue eyes examined the crowd of children that emerged from the little building. She spotted Bae almost right away and waved him over to where she was. Belle grinned widely and greeted him, her smile disappearing only moments after seeing what was on his face.

"Look at me" Belle used a stern voice, crouching down to his level, gently tipping his chin upwards, "what happened to you, Bae?" She noticed the rather large injury on his chin.

"Nothing." He stared down at his feet.

"This is not nothing! We've got to tell your father about this-"

"No!" Bae interjected, "If he found out he would have those kids killed! I don't want him to hurt anyone."

Belle continued to examine the wound and made sure it was alright. She gently wiped the dribble of blood on one of her kerchiefs and put her hand on his shoulder caringly. "At least tell me what happened," she pulled him aside from the rest of the crowd, to a quieter more secluded area, away from the hustle and away from those other children.

"They laughed at me because they scribbled all over my new book." he sniffled, "they also did this" Bae held up his school textbook and on the cover were black scribbles of messy graffiti.

"Those little inconsiderate little shits!" She cursed. Belle had never found herself so angry. A princess was raised never to shout out or curse or do anything any less of a lady, but in this case she managed to make an exception. These older larger boys were torturing him, making his life utterly miserable in a place that is suppose to be encouraging friendship and learning. "I am going to talk to their parents, this is going to end today!" She huffed. "Point to me which mothers they are and I will have a dignified word with them."

Baelfire gestured towards the large crowd of people. From the back she saw who Bae was pointing too. A tall bleach blond woman, nearly three times Belle's size. "You wait here," Belle said, "I will go take care of this situation."

The beauty walked up to the woman and cleared her throat, tapping her gently on the shoulder. However, when the lady turned around Belle felt her entire body tense. She recognized the face that was staring back at her, the face that had taunted her so many times as a child. There directly in front of her stood Cecelia of Pemberton, the dingus ditz herself. "Cecelia?" She felt her own jaw drop. "These are _your_ children?"

Belle watched as Cecelia opened her eyes wide with recognition at her. She felt Cecelia stare her up and down, judging the blue peasant dress that Rumplestiltskin had made her the first week in the castle. Her lipstick was bright red, while her powdered blush on her pale cheeks mad her resemble a clown.

"Well, what do you know, it truly is a small world out there," Cecelia raised a fake eyebrow, "I see you have downgraded, Isabelle."

_Be the better person,_ Belle told herself, _you must be a role model for Bae and take care of the horrible situation he had been dealing with.. No matter how bad you want to back talk the horrific woman that just referred you to the name no one ever called you; Isabelle._

"Its been quite sometime since the last time we saw one another" Belle spoke.

"Indeed, since then I have become one of the duchesses of the Pemberton estate, but I guess we don't all get our happy endings... or proper clothing for that matter." Cecelia snorted, pointing her nose up towards the sky.

Belle let out a breath. She felt the anger build up inside of her, but put a fake smile on her face and continued the conversation. "Look, I know you probably do not want to talk to me as much as I do not feel like speaking to you, but I am afraid your son has been bullying some of the other children."

"Nonsense, my son does nothing wrong, and even if he did I am sure the children did something to deserve it." She responded.

"I would like him to apologize and promise to never pick on Baelfire again."

"Baelfire? What kind of name is that?" Cecelia scoffed, sharing laughter with the large boy who had come to see his mother.

"You know what, Cecelia? You are still the same bully you always were, you pick on others in order to feel good about yourself." Belle stated, turning back quickly to exchange glances with Bae who still waited for her only paces back.

"It is such a shame, Isabelle, you used to be a beauty, a princess born of superior birth, but now look at you. You look like a villager in those awful clothes!" Cecelia started her terrible crackle of a laugh again, which only made Belle angrier and angrier. Then clearing her throat to make sure her words were as crystal clear as possible, the beauty replied, "at least I haven't let my tea and crumpets get to my ass."

That's when Cecelia stopped and looked at her with daggers in her eyes. That woman was out for blood. "Well, your hair looks like the main of a donkey" Cecelia barked.

"At least my face doesn't resemble one." Belle shot back instantly. All her years of arguments with her father had prepared Belle for this very moment. She had waited for the day where her sarcastic witty comments would surface an be recognised for the insults they really were.

"And those are words from a princess- oh wait you are no longer living in the Avonlea castle are you?" Cecelia questioned, accusingly.

"No, I am not living at the castle," Belle spoke up, "in matter of fact I am living with the Dark One, who could turn you into the toad you really are."

"So what are you now? The Dark One's whore?" Cecilia spat.

That's when Belle lunged and hit her.

Like furious cats, the two women hissed and clawed at one another, letting out groans and growls as they fought. Baelfire and the other children watched in awe as Belle pulled Cecelia's hair. The teacher came running out of the schoolhouse as soon as she heard the disrupting noise. Breaking them apart, the teacher scolded both Cecelia and Belle for acting like the feuding childish adults they were.

Their fight had attracted a crowd of people, mot of which were just simply curious and wanted to watch the fight play out. But now Belle had the face the consequences. She had been a horrible example to Bae today. Over and over again she had reminded him that violence was never the answer to bullying. The conflict must be resolved through conversation and compromise, not through violence and thrown punches.

When the teacher finally released the beauty, she walked out of the schoolhouse to see Baelfire around a group of kids laughing and playing. For the first time it looked as if he was happy. Belle trotted towards the group of kids as they all stared in awe of her.

"You were fantastic!" A girl shrieked to her, "they have been bullying everyone for months, but now, he is so scared that he did not even think twice about picking on us ever again!"

"Your momma is so cool, Bae." Another called out gleefully.

Belle could not help but smile at that particular comment. _Bae's mother. _It was strange, she knew, but she liked the sound of that. When Baelfire looked up with her with his big brown eyes, she rustled his hair and planted a peck on the top of his head. "We should be getting home soon" she spoke softly, dismissing the other children while they ran to their parents to tell them about the heroine that had freed them from being bullied.

Belle let out a sigh as they started to walk, "I am a horrible example" she admitted out loud. Just hours ago she had preached to Baelfire about the proper way to handle bullying. _Rule number one: do not stoop down to their level. It was Cecelia's fault,_ Belle reasoned. If it was not for the teacher she did not know what would of happened. The time in the schoolhouse had allowed them some down time to cool off and talk through the situation like Belle had originally planned.

"I'm twenty five years old and I still act like a child." Belle sighed.

"I thought it was pretty great actually." Bae giggled, "It was pretty funny watching you backtalk that woman. Those bullies will think twice about messing with me after what you have done today."

Belle felt herself smile at his comment. "C'mon" she smiled, wrapping her arm around his shoulder, "I think we have deserved a treat. I'm sure we can get the castle's kitchen to conjure up a chocolate pie for us."

* * *

After Belle's very strange behavior, Rumplestiltskin decided that a stroll out in the castle gardens would give him some fresh air. But as much as he tried, he could not stop thinking about Belle. His mind would flash back to the time when he had taught her how to spin, he had allowed her to use the one precious item he truly cherished. Rumple recalled the flower scent he had found in her hair, such a pleasant smell, a soft gentle touch.

"Hello, Rumple" a femine voice called, making him snap out of his trance and gaze up at the sudden disturbance. Somewhere deep in his heart he wished to see Belle standing there behind him. He wished to see her pearly white smile grinning up at him, but alas, the wish was not fulfilled.

Standing not far away from him was the red-headed witch he had been trying to avoid; Zelena.

"Well, well, what an unpleasant surprise" Rumple spoke.

"What? Dissapointed I was not someone else?" Zelena responded, her striking blue eyes blood shot and red.

"Why are you here, dearie?"

"I came to see you, Rumple, haven't you missed me?"

"I think you are stalling yourself by coming here. You can't run away from your sister forever, Zelena."

The witch grew a distasteful expression on her face at the mere mention of her sister. Regina had been kept and loved, while she was left alone and abandoned. "I could destroy her if I really wanted. You said so yourself that my powers were beyond hers."

"There is more to magic than just power, you must know how to wield it." He explained.

"Then perhaps you could teach me." Zelena licked her red lips seductively, slowly moving towards Rumple and placing a firm hand on his shoulder.

"You could not pay me enough gold or jewels to do such a thing" He snorted, unimpressed with the witch's flirtation.

"Is this because of the new resident at your castle? People talk, Rumple, especially townsfolk. There is news you have a new caretaker, the princess of Avonlea. What a great little toy she would make."

"it's not like that" he said lowly.

"Of course it isn't" she snapped, "I know I am the only woman for you, I certainly will not be intimidated by that foolish little girl."

Rumple nearly bit his tongue trying to hold back his argument, wanting to defend Belle. "It is only a matter of time before you realize what you truly want." She curled the bottom of his hair with her fingers, playfully.

Rumplestiltskin scoffed and shook her off of him. "I would have to be dead and cold in my grave before being with you."

She gave him a long cold stare, "that can be arranged, love."

* * *

Rumplestiltskin returned home from the rest of his dealing. The unpleasant conversation with Zelena had reminded him why he never enjoyed social encounters. He sat on his wheel like he had always done in the evening and stared out the window, waiting until his son and Belle would return home.

He heard the door open and immediately turned his attention the the front of the room where they noisily came in.

"Why are you too home so late?"

"Belle punched someone!" Bae outburst, "you should of seen it Papa!"

Belle felt herself go beet red, she could feel the blood rushing to her face and did her best to stop the warmth from spreading.

"You really hit someone?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"If it makes any difference she deserved it." Belle responded.

"I think I would have paid a large amount of gold to see that." He quipped, "Bae why don't you get started on dinner, son. There is a feast waiting for you in the man dining hall."

"So tell me the story.. behind the punch."

"Baeflire was getting picked on at school." Belle said, lowly, "It turns out the bully's mother was the stuck up snob that used to pick on me when I was a teenager. But J think that was a one time thing, I've learned my lesson about bullies, and I'm pretty sure Bae has too. Violence is never the answer, it will only give you sore knuckles." Belle admitted.

Rumplestiltskin took a few moments to just look at her. She was so genuine, she had become protective over his son, even went so far in standing up for him when he failed too. His heart sank to think that Baelfire had been too afraid to tell him that he was having problems at school.

"What you did for him today," Rumple started, "it was something I should of done a long time ago- if only I had known about it," he paused, reflecting on the amount of effort his maid had put into helping Bae. Then finally he asked, "you care for him don't you?"

Belle smiled, "yes, he is a very special little boy."

For once the beauty and the beast agreed on something. Belle even thought that he had grazed his hand with hers before he left the room, leaving a light feeling down in her heart.

**Hey everyone! Sorry for the late update, the original chapter to this story was accidentally deleted so I had to re-write everything. That's why there might be a few mistakes in this chapter. Anyways, thank you to all of you kind and patient people who left reviews and followed or favorite this story! It means so much and puts a smile on my face. Leave another review and let me know what you think! Also feel free to leave any ideas/thoughts on what is going to happen next!**

**Next Chapter: A snow day gets Bae, Belle and Rumple all outside! Will a snow fight ensue? What will happen when there is an intimate moment between Belle and Rumple?**


	8. Snowfalls and Snowfights

The storm had taken the night by force. Belle listened and shivered to the icy whip of the strong wing against her window. She cuddled and wrapped herself with enough blankets that her bed became a den of warmth and fell asleep until morning came.

When she awoke, she got out of bed and tip-toed to the window. Slowly, she opened up the curtains to the brightest scene she had ever witnessed.

Her eyes were almost immediately blinded by the pure white sheets of the snow that lay in the courtyard outside. The blizzard had left them with at least two feet of powdered snow, resulting in the entire courtyard being covered in white.

Then out of the corner of her eye, the beauty saw a small brown headed figure buried in the snow. Baelfire had gotten up early to go play out in the snow, like she had done when she was young. Belle couldn't help but smile to herself at the sight, and then an idea came to her mind:_ she would join in on the fun and go out in the snow too._

Quickly, she scurried towards her wardrobe and picked out a warm red winter coat along with some black pants to go underneath. She cursed Rumplestiltskin for the fact that he covered up all the mirrors in the castle. Belle had to look in the reflection of vases and decorations to evaluate her appearance.

Brushing her hair and letting it flow down past her shoulders, Belle rushed downstairs and opened the door to the courtyard. The wind was still quite harsh as she slowly made her way through the thick snow to get to Bae.

"I thought you could use these." Belle held up a pair of white fluffy ear muffs, struggling to get through the white powder.

Baelfire grinned widely when he saw the Beauty approaching him. She held out the ear muffs to him, which he happily excepted. "I saw you from my window. What are you building?" She questioned, looking at the snow contraption he had built.

"A snowman.. Would you like to help?" He asked enthusiastically, putting on his muffs, the top of his head covered with large snowflakes.

"Do you really think I came all this way through this weather to give you the silly earmuffs?" She laughed playfully, instantly interested in helping.

"I've rolled a big snowball already, how about you roll a middle, while I make the head?" He directed while she nodded with agreement.

Belle bounced down to sit on her bottom, taking a handful of snow in her small hands and making a perfectly circular ball. Surely Rumplestiltskin wouldn't mind if her duties were postponed for a while, would he?

* * *

Rumplestiltskin lay in bed his eyes shut, but he hadn't gotten any sleep at all. He had spent a majority of the night thinking about what Zelena had said to him. She had considered Belle a mere plaything, a toy that he could dispose of at his will.

Perhaps it was better that way, if Zelena suspected Belle of anything other than a caretaker she would certainly try and take matters into her own hands, being the jealous type she was.

But would she think that? It was a silly thought that there could be anything going on between himself and his pretty little maid.

_Was it a silly thought? _No- Rumple scolded his brain from wandering. He tried not to think of her, he convinced himself that he didn't think of her much, just her laugh, the scent of her floral hair, the way she walked- _No!_

He growled and cursed at himself once more for thinking such thoughts about his own maid. What had gotten into him? He opened his eyes and rubbed a hand across his scaly forehead in frustration, getting out of bed and dressing himself for the day ahead. Rumple walked towards the his window, letting some light into the chamber. As he brushed the dark red curtains aside, he stared out into the snow.

To his surprise, he spotted Baelfire and Belle out in the midst of all the newly fallen snow in the cold morning air. He could see them laughing, rolling large volumes of snow on the ground. The snowball became so big that both Belle and Bae couldn't push it with their combined strengths.

Then in a split second, Rumplestiltskin was out in the courtyard observing them with a closer curious look.

Belle was leaning her full body weight against the pile of snow as it slowly rolled towards the others, "Perhaps I could be of assistance." Rumplestiltskin called, his voice echoing throughout the entire enclosed area. Belle and Baelfire both looked shocked to see him standing there. With one raise of his hand he made the snow move, creating swirls of white powder which contributed to another large snowball.

"You can't use magic" The Beauty half laughed, interrupting the power that was about to fly out of his hands.

"Why ever not?" He questioned.

"Because building it yourself is the fun part!"

"Would you like to join us, papa?" Bae asked his father, hoping perhaps he would join in.

"Well I-" The Beast started, trying to think of a quick excuse. "I refuse to be suckered into such childish activities." The beast stated, turning around again, his back facing towards his maid and his son.

Belle saw the sudden disappointment in Bae's brown eyes as his father began to walk away. Desperate to help Baelfire spend quality time with his father, Belle thought of a plan and she thought of it quick. She hid herself behind the large tree, hiding herself. Belle crouched down to the frosty ground and gathered a ball of snow in her hands, impulsively throwing it in the direction of Rumplestiltskin. The Beauty ran behind a nearby tree, just large enough for a hiding spot.

Just as she had intended it, the snowball hit him directly in the back of the head. Belle covered up her mouth to stop from herself from laughing, giving away her hiding position. She could hear Baelfire laugh at the sight of his father getting hit with a snowball. Then he disappeared out of sight and she took a deep breath in of the cold winter air.

"Hitting the Dark One with a snowball now that is a risky move." A voice suddenly sounded from behind her.

I'll take my chances." She giggled, changing her current position to face him. "It was a desperate attempt to keep you here actually, Baelfire wanted you to stay." She moved a couple inches closer to him, just close enough for him to her whisper. "And to tell you a secret, I was hoping you would stay too." She reached out to grab his hand gently after her confession, but instead his hand resisted and he plunged a fistful of snow directly in the Belle's face.

"Rumplestiltskin!" She gasped, shocked at his action.

"What goes around comes around dearie." He trilled, his nose crinkling with delight as he gave that addictive giggle that had her laughing with him.

Belle wiped the snow from her face and picked up another ball and threw it, as he dodged it without much effort. She ran quickly towards the half built snowman, hoping for some protection from Rumplestiltskin's retaliation. Suddenly she is hit with a snowball from the back, which caused Belle to whip around looking for the fiend who had hit her.

You could tell by Belle's face that she was confused, there was nobody behind her. Then the realization struck her. "You're using magic!" She accused him.

"I did nothing of the sort." He stared the other way, avoiding her gaze. Then suddenly Belle is hit again by a ball of snow, and a wicked grin is painted on Rumplestiltskin's face as she growls his name with playful frustration.

To help the Belle win this treacherous snow fight, Bae created a small snowball and tried sneaking up behind his father, attempting to place it down his shirt. Rumple turned around just in time, detecting the boy and melting his snowball into nothing but a puddle in his hands. "Its not fair if its two against one." Rumple's grin was still on his face as he looked down at his son

"If you aren't playing fair, neither are we." She stated, throwing another one in his direction, while Baelfire continued to help her, building more snowballs to be used for throwing. He had never gotten his father to play such games, but somehow Belle, their maid had managed to get him to do it

All of a sudden the Beast runs at the Beauty, his hands filled with snow, and she runs the opposite way, grinning widely trying not to squeal with delight. They eventually collide into each other, slipping on underneath ice, forcing Belle to fall right to the ground on her back. Rumple falls as well, directly ontop of her, pinning her into the snow. Their noses are so close they almost touch, and in that moment, they are in full body contact.

They laugh, which only makes matters worse, their bodies become even more intertwinded than before. Her chestnut hair is sprawled out in curls in the snow, and her skin is glowing with perfection. He is startled by the way she is looking at him, with wonder and joy in her eyes.

After the long moment, Rumple gets off of her, holding out a hand for her to help her up off the ground. She takes it and he lifts her off the snowy ground, brushing the snow off of her red jacket.

She hadn't mind being so close to him, something about him fascinated her and drew her to him. Belle was certain of it before, but now she had her proof, Rumplestiltskin had a heart. He also remained somewhat stunned by their very close encounter.

Belle was beautiful, playful and curious, everything he was not. Yet, there still was a sliver of hope that perhaps a beauty would like a beast like himself. The way she had looked at him was something else, something he had never experienced before- It was impossible, it was better not to ponder and fantasize on these thoughts.

But then what if these thoughts weren't as crazy as they seemed? The look she had given him, she had never looked at him that way before.

**Hey everyone! Thank you so much for reviews and favourites/follows! As always I really do appreciate reading each and everyone of them. Leave another review and let me know what you think is going to happen next! Thanks for reading!**

**Next Chapter: Belle and Bae attend a village carnival and Belle receives a creepy fortune. While Rumplestiltskin tries to use his magic compass to gain power, but what will happen when the compass that points to what he wants most, points to Belle?**


	9. The Compass of the Heart

Belle walked down towards Baelfire's chambers to collect the dirty laundry that needed to be washed. Starting the day with some laundry would not be a bad thing, Belle tried to tell herself. It would get the chore directly out of the way so she would be able to have some spare time later on to read or leisure as she pleased. It was a strange pleasant thing when Rumplestiltskin never interrupted her when he saw her reading. In fact, after she was finished, he would often ask about what she was reading, or questions on the tale.

Belle walked down the stairs with the laundry basket in hand, and gently placed it down on the table. As she started to sort out all the different materials and fabrics, Rumplestiltskin burst through the door.

"Ah, Belle, would you happen to want to go on the road with me today?" He asked.

What a bizarre proposition, Belle thought. The beauty glanced up from sorting out the laundry like he was trying to trick her. Could this be one of his evil little quips? Perhaps one of his manipulative mind games?

"The road?" she repeated, he had never asked her to travel with him _ever_, unless it was a dire moment of transporting through magic smoke. "Where are you travelling to, exactly?"

"A kingdom far to the south," he answered. "It's their annual harvest festival today and I have an important deal to make, and I thought you might want to come along. You may be of use to me."

"What sort of deal?" she asked, hesitant it would be one involving a fair amount of violence. Or worse, they could run into the Sheriff of Nottingham again.

"I haven't got time to answer all your never ending dire questions, dearie, would you like to come along or not? I haven't got all day."

The offer was nearly too tempting to refuse, though she did not understand why Rumplestiltskin believed he needed her in one of his deals. She was his maid, his servant, someone that would bring nothing to a deal whatsoever, but somehow deep down in her heart, Belle knew that he was not playing a trick. Maybe he was offering an opportunity to get out of the castle walls for a day. Baelfire would be in school, most of the chores were already completed, and the last thing she wanted was to be left alone.

"Alright." She agreed, "I will come with you today."

Then, without nearly no notice at all, a smirk came upon Rumplestiltskin's face as he snapped his fingers, both of them disappearing into a cloud of smoke.

They transported to a hillside of a small village. It was clear that the season was indeed Autumn, for all the trees of the little valley were painted yellow and gold. Belle's whole world spun out of control as she fought the urge to throw up. Magic was not friendly to non-magic users. The affects of the transportation spell left Belle feeling nauseous and irritated.

"I hate it when you do that!" She gasped, "You could warn me, you know."

"Now, what fun would that be?" He quipped, earning himself a glare from the beauty.

Suddenly both their attentions turned to the sparkling lights and cheers coming from below. Belle heard the distant beating drums of the joyful upbeat music and the loud crackling sound of fireworks going off.

"It is their harvest festival today. I thought it might be good for you if you participated in these peasant activities."

Belle smiled a little at his words. It was sweet in a way, how he thought about her. The man that claimed he was the most powerful tyrant sorcerer in all the realms wanted his maid to enjoy a festival. Belle hardly had time to be affronted before he was pressing a heavy coin purse into her hand.

"Go on, dearie," he said, pulling his hood up to shadow his face. "Enjoy the carnival. I'll see to my business and meet you back here in an hour."

With that he turned on his heel and left. Belle stared after him for a moment with her mouth slightly agape. He'd just left her alone at a crowded festival far from the confines of his home. She would never think of shirking their deal and running away, and his obvious show of trust warmed her heart. Belle immediately set off and raced through the maze of tents, her coin purse clinking merrily against her hip. It was the most freedom she'd been given since she'd arrived at the Dark Castle, and she didn't mean to squander it.

The smells of different foods filled her nose and the sounds of musical instruments played in her ears. Belle wandered around the carnival, munching on toffees and enjoying being among so many people for the first time in months. She'd stopped to watch a troupe of jugglers when someone called out to her.

"Care to hear your future?" a strangely accented voice asked.

She turned to see a woman lounging outside a deep purple tent. She didn't look anything like the fortunetellers who used to come to the summer fair back home. They were always wizened old women, wrapped in gauzy shawls and beaded jewelry, hunched over their crystal balls and cards.

This woman was young, not much older than Belle herself. She had gleaming red hair that hung down her back in intricate braids and shrewd brown eyes. Her dress was an even brighter shade of red than her hair, though the simplicity of the cut kept her from being overwhelmed by the outfit.

"Only three pennies," the woman continued. "Such a small price for the knowledge of your fate."

Belle didn't put much stock in divination. There were people with the gift of foresight to be sure, though they'd hardly be peddling their powers at harvest festivals. But she had a purse full of coins and some time left to kill.

"Alright," Belle responded, pulling the coins from her purse and placing them in the woman's outstretched hand.

She followed her into the dim interior of her tent and glanced around, looking for some hint of a crystal ball. Perhaps the woman read palms. But there wasn't even a table in the tent, only two chairs arranged around a fire pit. The woman motioned for Belle to sit in one of the chairs and sat opposite her.

"So how does this work?" Belle asked skeptically, holding out her hands for the woman to grab.

"Shh, child, it is all in the flame." The fortune teller hushed her.

The beauty waited as the woman mumbled some words that did not sound like the common tongue, and let out a short but loud hissing sound. Then her once friendly and cheerful voice turned low and dark, which gave Belle shivers down her spine. The orange flame quickly disappeared into a black smoky flame right before her eyes.

"There is a man," the woman whispered creepily, "and he will bring you darkness."

The beauty wished she would have simply declined this woman's offer of her future. She wished that she would of turned away the moment the woman called out for her. Regardless, she was in this mess now and Belle needed to finish it. "A man?" Belle questioned, "what man? Do you see what he looks like?"

The mysterious woman ignored Belle's questions of identification, only continuing to stare at the supernatural flame before them. "You have darkness all around you, child. But there is also light. Pure light. This darkness will drag you into a place of unknown one of which you may not be able to return."

Belle felt more intense shivers crawling up her spine and only wished they would stop. She wanted to leave this tent, because at that very moment it was all seemed like a whirlwind of nonsense. Belle did not want to believe any words spoken out of this witch's mouth. Though in the back of her mind she could not help but wondering:

_Was Rumplestiltskin the man the woman warned Belle about? Was he the one to embrace her into darkness?_

The witch let out a sharp wail and a gasp at what she was seeing, then like the flame, she became quiet and faded into nothing. Belle sat on the chair opposite of where the woman was and stared in shock at the absent seat in front of her. Where had she gone? What did she mean by darkness surrounding her?

Belle shakily got up, and ran out of the tent and away from the carnival. Her heart was beating fast and her palms had become sweaty. She spotted a nearby lone tree in the middle of the meadow and sat underneath it. Belle still felt herself shaking and afraid from that unpleasant horrific experience.

Then a familiar voice sounded behind her, and Belle never thought she would be so glad to hear Rumplestiltskin's voice in her whole life. She let out a tiny sigh of relief and got up to greet him.

"What have you been up to these past hours?" Rumplestiltskin asked, "Why aren't you still at the carnival?"

"I have a stomach ache." Belle lied. She did not want to relive the eerie confrontation she had with that strange fortune teller, nor did she want to tell Rumplestiltskin about it.

"Are you ready to return to the dark castle?" He questioned, sincerely, noticing she had a frightened look all over her pretty face.

"I thought you would never ask" she admitted, taking in a shaky breath and clasping her arm in his.

* * *

When the returned back to the castle, Rumplestiltskin paced and paced around the living room. He had a black velvet small bag in hand and inside contained a tiny stone. He picked up the little rock and held it up to the light, watching as the stone glistened and sparkled.

"So, this is what you went in town for?" Belle stared at the tiny stone in Rumpleatiltskin's hands, "this was the deal you were telling me about?"

"It is," he stated, continuing on with his observation.

"You went to all this trouble for a rock?"

"It is not just a rock, little maid." Rumple cooed. "I need this rock to operate the compass, which will lead me to the wand of the fairy godmother of Cinderella. I have been looking for it for years now-"

"and the compass will help you find it?" The beauty asked.

"Indeed," he answered, "it will lead me to the thing I want most, and in this case the compass will be more than happy to oblige to my desire."

"Alright" she crossed her arms and raised a skeptical brow, "lets see how this compass works."

Rumplestiltskin flipped open the cap of the device, placing the tiny rock inside, inserting it like a battery. His big eyes scanned the dial, waiting and watching for where the arrow would point. All he would have to do now was follow the direction of the compass and it would lead him straight to the wand.

He watched closely, as the little brown arrow flicked back and forth before staying perfectly still pointing across the room. He excitedly looked up in the direction of the compass and felt his heart flutter when the arrow pointed directly at Belle.

His mouth opened to speak but no words came out. His hands shook as he tried to shake the direction of the compass, as to try and change the result, but there was no changing its powerful magic. There standing right in front of him was Belle, the princess of Avonlea, the most beautiful girl he had ever seen throughout his hundreds of years, and the compass pointed right at her.

Even as she paced around the room, waiting for him to reveal the direction of the dial, the compass followed her every move and every little step she took. What he wanted most wasnot the all-powerful wand he thought he desired, but instead was _her._

"Well..?" Belle impatiently waited, "where is it pointing?"

He snapped the lid of the compass shut and looked at her like a deer in headlights. "Nowhere." He concluded, "clearly this device does not work."

"But what about everything you told me? It is made up of very powerful magic, I am sure wherever it pointed was the direction your heart wanted it to point to."

"My heart?" Rumplestiltskin sounded like he was going to be sick. Rumplestiltskin pulled open the wooden cabinet and grabbed the half empty bottle of rum. He felt a slight illness amongst his normaility, a feeling that crept up on him until that very afternoon. But Rumplestiltskin was no sick of disease-no, he was sick with something much stronger.

The Dark One was lovesick.

**Hey everyone, sorry I have not had the chance to update sooner. I've had a lot of things going on these past couple weeks. Next chapter should be up next week! And again I would like to give thanks to everyone following this story(you guys are the best!) and a big thank you to everyone who reviews, follows and favourites this fic of mine! Thanks for reading!**

**Next Chapter: Belle reads a sad story and is comforted by Rumplestiltskin.**


	10. Teardrops of True Love

Over the next couple of days, Belle noticed a slight change in Rumplestiltskin. He was acting.. strange. He was basically tip toeing around her, not making direct eye contact and by these signs, the beauty knew something was up. He would jump at her near presence, startling by the slightest touch of her hand. When she asked if something had been bothering him, he mumbled and went straight to his alchemy room on the second floor.

The compass that was suppose to point to your hearts desire, to the thing you want most, pointed right at Belle.

He did in fact, attempt at trying to avoid the beauty, maybe if he made some distance the compass would change its mind. Then he heard loud sobs coming from her chambers.

Rumpelstiltskin had thought that they were done with the crying. Belle hadn't sobbed herself to sleep in weeks, and he was accustomed to her happy presence around his castle. He knew that he was a difficult man to work with, but Belle was a windowful of sunshine in his life, and it seemed to him that most of his eccentricities had stopped bothering her.

So then, why was she crying?

His heart pounded as he arched closer and closer to her door. She was in pain, and by the harsh sound of her cries it was a lot of pain. _Had someone snuck into the dark castle and hurt her? Had she fallen and hit her head? _All the terrifying scenarios made Rumplestiltskin crazy with curiousity and a strong will to protect her.

After taking the stairs two at a time, he burst into her tower room, brandishing the mace he'd grabbed on his way. "Belle?" He tried to make his voice a roar, but the fear chewing at the edges of his mind made it little more than a hoarse whisper. He skidded to a stop in the center of the room, dodging the mace as it flailed back at him.

If she hadn't been weeping, he might have missed her lying there on the floor. The bed was stripped, and all of its components were cocooning his maid while she huddled in the throes of misery on a heap of pillows—on the floor. While all of this was making his head spin, the oddest part was that her face was actually pressed into a pillow, and yet it wasn't muffling her at all. No wonder she couldn't hear him—it sounded like a whale being murdered in the library.

"Belle," he repeated, this time louder. He didn't know what was wrong, but he hadn't seen tears like this since her first week here, so it had to be something awful.  
She lifted her face from the pillow, took one look at him, and screamed. It wasn't until he stumbled back and got hit in the thigh with the mace that he realized he was waving a torture device at her, and that he might have looked alarming. He dropped it, vanishing it before it hit the ground.

"What are you doing?" Belle asked, her voice wobbly with the tears that were still streaming down her face.  
His hands fluttered, and he made a distressed noise in the back of his throat. The adrenaline pounding through his veins was starting to wear off, and he was seeing no way that he wouldn't sound like a confused puppy.

"I thought you were being attacked," he said, convincing himself that he sounded intimidating and terrifying.

"Oh." She glanced at his empty hands, sniffled, and then wiped at her eyes. "You weren't coming to bludgeon me?"

The noise he made was like some cross between an owl and a snake being stepped on simultaneously. He hoped she took it for a laugh. She seemed okay now, so he was sure he would regret asking, but he had to know—"Why are you crying?"

It was like he'd opened the floodgates by reminding her, and she threw herself back into her pillow, shoulders shaking. He was about to tip-toe out, done with trying to solve the mystery that was his housekeeper, when he realized she was digging around under the bed for something. Seconds later, she emerged with a thick book, and offered it to him.

For a second, he just stared at it. This was the culprit, the reason he'd stopped working to come storming up to rescue his fair damsel. Another damn book.  
She wagged it at him, and he sighed, accepting it. It was a thick, blue-bound volume, and the cover read The Emerald of the Moon in flaked golden lettering. He had never read it before, and it looked ridiculous.

"Do you—" He cleared his throat. "Do you want to tell me about it?"

She peeked up at him, tears still streaming down her face, and then started shuffling around. He watched with furrowed brows, still baffled about what she was doing even when she stopped moving. She was sitting against the bed now, dwarfed by a mountain of blankets with her fingers peeking out in the center where she clutched them around her. She reached an arm out and patted the floor next to her, looking up at him.

"What?"

"Do you want to sit?" She flipped her head down to dab at her eyes, but her tears were coming slower now, and he didn't dare to believe that it was because his presence had comforted her.

"Ah—" He looked at the ground like he was afraid spikes might spring forth if he sat, and then Belle patted it again and he couldn't resist. He sat next to her, careful to keep a good three-to-five inches between his body and her padding of blankets.

"what are you doing?" She had stretched her arm out toward his head, holding her blanket open like she was displaying the inside.

"Are you cold?" she asked, her sentence punctuated by a loud sniffle. He didn't know what to say. Before he could do more than shy away from her, she had scooted closer, tossing the blanket over his shoulder. He caught the corner as a reflex, and what the hell was he doing pulling it around himself?

This was okay. This would be okay. Belle didn't interact with anyone, so no one would know that he was sitting on the floor for her and allowing her to wrap a blanket around his shoulders. He could still keep his distance—nothing said they had to touch to share a blanket. Then, she scooted until their thighs were brushing, and tipped herself over so that her head rested on his shoulder. He was certain that she could feel the blood shooting through his veins like apoplectic fireworks.

"S-so." He cleared his throat, trying to make it seem like he was getting sick. Ruining her image of his immortal invincibility was better than letting her think that her presence made him nervous. "So. Your book?" He tried his best to add confidence to what he was saying.

"Oh, gods, it was awful." She sniffled, taking a kerchief and blowing her nose into it. He felt her take the shuddering breath that he was sure meant new tears, and he hastened to thrust a corner of the blanket at her. She accepted it and pressed her face into it for a type of childish comfort.

"I thought it was going to have a happy ending—you know, how most of these books do. And the whole thing was just the princess and the rogue falling in love and everyone trying to pull them apart, and then in the end—the end—" She hiccupped and buried her face in his shoulder, shifting around until his vest wasn't poking her in the face. He almost wilted at the mere touch.

"They lived happily ever after?" He finished, an uncertainty lingering in his voice. At his response she let out a low wail, and further buried herself into him, so much so that she was almost in his lap. "What? What happened?" he asked, trying his best to startle her into moving no further.

"She died!"

He hadn't been expecting that. She'd read countless books where the hero or heroine died—she had to have, what with the amount she read each day. He thought that maybe it would have something to do with a young woman forced to leave her family, taken away by a cruel beast.

"That's it?"

He wished he could take the words back as soon as she tilted her scarlet face up at him, blue eyes wide and sparkling with the new tears that he had probably put there. Oh well—he was the Dark One, and he was supposed to be insensitive.

"I guess—yes. I don't know why, but it just—it just hit me. Can you imagine having to live the rest of your life without your true love, right after you'd found her?"  
He had to meet her eyes. They were right there, and she was just looking at him, and there was some sort of magic pulling his gaze to hers. He wanted to tell her that he couldn't imagine it, because he had never had a true love and he never would, but for once, he wanted to say the right thing.

He wanted to say what Belle wanted to hear, not because he would get something out of it, but because she would, and he wanted her to stop crying more than he wanted his reputation.

"No. I can't."

Her lips twitched in a smile meant just for him, and he could feel magic tingling all over his body. Then she broke their gaze, and he was relieved until she curled up against him, tucking her legs up by his thigh like he was some pillow instead of the Dark One. He was helpless to keep his arm from curling around her, and more helpless still to keep from tucking her more comfortably against his side.

"Rumple?" Belle asked, looking up at him with her puffy, blue, adorable eyes.

"Hmm?" His voice was almost a hum against her ears.

"Tell me a story with a happy ending." She insisted, "it will help me feel better."

"I can't say I know too many of those, darling." He stopped and felt his cheeks redden. He had meant to say "dearie" not "darling", but something had allowed him to let his guard down when he was with her. She had a special gift about her, he was sure of it, why else would he have a slip of his tongue?

"Why not?" The beauty looked at him, shocked that he did not have any sort of happy tales to share with her.

"I am the Dark One. My life hasn't exactly been rainbows and sunshine, Belle."

"My father abandoned me when I was just a boy, I've always been alone, until I had Bae, and if it wasn't for you, he would probably end up leaving me eventually too."

She leaned towards him, her face moving upwards his. Their noses were nearly touching and Rumplestiltskin tried his best not to swallow the large gulp that had built up in his throat. She then leaned her hed and rested it under his chin, tucking her head against his chest again. He didn't know if it was the fatality of emotions that the book had inflicted or the delusion she actually wanted to touch and be near him. She clung to him like a young child would cling to a blanket.

"Rumple?' she said again.

"Hmm?" He answered.

"I don't think you're the monster everyone thinks you are."

This time Belle snuggled her face near his neck and allowed herself to calm down. And as uncomfortable as he felt, how afraid of the feelings creeping up on him, he did not have the strength to pull himself away.

* * *

Rumplestiltskin had briefly fallen asleep in the warm comfort of his maid. He was glad that she had falln asleep also, so he would no longer be there when she did finally awake.

_What was he doing? This was a princess, a beautiful woman that would never possibly love him back._

With the snap of his fingers he could erase her memory of the afternoon. Save himself the embarrassment of acting like a fool, and her the shame of finding comfort in a beast. He watched her for a little while, sleeping there peacefull- an angelic way about her. Then he flinched as he observed her eyelids fluttering. Belle was about to get up.

When Belle woke up Rumple was nowhere to be found. A noise startled her and caused her to sit up on the sofa. She briskly rubbed her eyes and let out a lion-like yawn.

"Rumple?" The beauty called out, searching for the cause of the sound. Then out of the darkness of the next room, a pair of shoes clacked along the wooden marbled floor. A red head strolled into the room and hushed out the fireplace with a wave of her hand.

Belle froze at the sight of the unfamiliar woman, "Who are you?" she questioned, straightening herself up.

The woman chuckled and threw her head back as to mock her. "The more important question is who are you, love? And what are you doing in Rumplestiltskin's castle?" The woman hissed.

"I am his maid." Belle answered, lowly. Then finding the tiny bit of confidence within herself she stated, "what is your business here?"

"I'm sure your master has mentioned me" The woman paused, a wicked grin painted across her face. "I'm Zelena"

**Hey everybody! So Belle and Zelena finally meet DunDunDun! Will a cat fight ensue? Who knew Rumplestiltskin would be such a ladies man.. Anyways, thanks for all the reviews and follows, it truly does mean a lot! Leave another review and let me know what you think! Thanks for reading!**

**Next Chapter: Zelena and Belle have a confrontation which is interrupted by Rumplestiltskin. Later, Baelfire urges Rumple to ask Belle on a date.**


	11. Courage from a Coward

Belle had seen witches before, in her books of course, but there was nothing in the encyclopedia's and various text that mentioned that some witches... were attractive. The beauty did not quite understand why she felt so intensly threatened by this woman, this _Zelena. _Who knows where she had come from, what was her purpose in he dark castle? So far all Belle knew was that this woman was here sticking her nose where it did not belong, and more importantly, she was sticking her nose into Rumplestiltskin's business.

Belle examined the witch, as she stood before her. She had red hair, which waved down beneath her shoulders while her striking green gaze made the beauty shiver. In fact, she was so caught up in her own thoughts that she almost did not hear what Zelena was saying.

"So you are the one everyone has been making a fuss about." Zelena began, "the villages will not stop talking about the Dark One's captured princess."

"I don't think-" Belle started. She knew that there must have been some gossip after she left the castle, gossip and slander about Rumplestiltskin and herself. She only wished that the rumors did not back it back to her father in Avonlea.

"Oh, please dear, don't be modest." Zelena pursed her red lips together, mockingly, "I suppose that makes you the damsel in distress, yes? Trapped and held hostage by the most dangerous man in the entire Enchanted Forest."

"I am not being held hostage" Belle retorted, quick enough that Zelena knew she had struck a nerve. Then in a short instant, both women's attention turned towards the door wen they heard a sound coming from behind them. Belle immediately recognized the leathered figure emerging from the shadows, and an overwhelming amount of relief came over her.

"Ah, Rumple, just the person I wanted to see." Zelena cooed, digging her claws into the leather on his jacket. However, Rumplestiltskin paid no attention to the manipulative gesture and ripped away from her grasp, backing away from Zelena and towards Belle.

"Zelena," he greeted, "it seems this is another occurrence that you were neither welcome or invited." He spat.

The sorceress scoffed briskly at his rude comment, then moved on to observing the fine décor and art pieces of the room. With a strong paced and the click clack sound of her high heeled boots, Zelena ran her finger over one of the smaller cabinets in the corner of the hall. She pulled up her hand to reveal that dust had covered her finger, then with a taunting hiss she made a tisking noise. "Your castle is dusty, tell me my dear, Rumple, do you have your maid to actually clean your castle, or do you enjoy her for other scandalous purposes?"

Belle saw in Rumplestiltskin's eyes he wanted nothing but to lunge at her, to rid their home of her unwelcome and disturbing presence, but instead, he leaned over to her and grazed his hand along the beauty's back.

"Belle, go upstairs into Bae's room." He commanded her, lowly, and she did exactly what she was told without another word. When Belle had gone up the stairs, Zelena pulled up and chair and sat with her feet up, comfortably.

"I haven't seen you around these parts for quite sometime, dearie" Rumple confronted her, an annoyance in his tone.

"Do you blame me?" She replied, "She's here." A distasteful look came upon the redhead's face.

"You can't run away from your sister forever, Zelena." Rumple retorted. He had known that Regina, the queen of the northern kingdom, had only just recently found out about her estranged older sister's existence, and it was all thanks to their mother, Cora. Their mother was a feisty woman- Rumple knew, having had a small flirtation with her in years passed.

Perhaps that is why he was concerned with Zelena's obsessive and blind intentions in the present. Or what the Dark One feared the most was unpredictability, the uncertainty what Zelena would do to Belle if she ever found out that he had fallen in love with her.

"I can do whatever I want" Zelena protested, "I am the one with the more powerful magic, after all."

Rumple gave her an unfriendly smile and took a tiny step towards her. "What is the real reason you have come here, dearie?"

"Isn't it obvious?" She began, watching him for a moment before making her confession, "I came back for you."

"In what delusional world are you living in, that I ever returned your feelings?" His words were calm yet harsh, which seemed to silence Zelena for what seemed to be a very long eternity.

"Is it because of that girl?" She finally said, "Is it that _Belle_?" Her voice was defiled with disgust, "Come on, Rumple! The little princess doesn't even conjure magic!"

He recalled the day when he had taught her how to spin on his wheel, one of his most prized possessions. Belle had managed to turned a single strand of regular straw into a beautiful gleaming rod of gold. But that was it, unlike the many other power hungry people that lived in the Enchanted Forest, Belle dismissed magic and even stated that she was no longer interested in performing. He was glad that she did not do magic- she was far too innocent for that kind of corruption. Unlike himself, Rumplestiltskin knew that magic would continue controlling the rest of his long immortal life.

"She could never give you what I could give you" she purred, once more running her hand along side of his chest.

"And what is that? Annoyance? Well congratulations, dearie, you've won." Rumple quipped. While Zelena's facial expressions did not change. She remained serious and straightforward, while a twinkle of hope gleamed in her eyes. "I could give you a child," she said "one born with incredible powers. Between you and I? Could you imagine the destruction our child would cause? The world would be at our feet, the Enchanted Forest would be ours."

"You're psychotic. Why on earth would I ever want a child with you?" Rumple gave her a disgusted look.

"Because you are a slave to power." She hissed, "I don't want to know what you would do to gain the upper hand."

"Everyone has their limits." He spoke flatly, "especially if it concerns you." Then Rumple drew a large fireball from his bare hands. "Now, get out of my castle." He ordered.

"This isn't over, not even close, _dearie_." She mimicked his voice, then in a puff of green smoke she disappeared.

* * *

Belle charged back through the doors of the main hall as soon as she was sure that Zelena was gone. She saw Rumplestiltskin standing there, staring blankly at the wall.

"Are you alright?" Belle called out.

Rumple nodded and turned towards her.

"Who was she?"

"No one." He answered coldly.

"It didn't seem like no one, she seemed.. jealous- in fact, I think she- I- I think she liked you."

For a brief moment, and a brief moment only, Rumple could of sworn he heard a hint of jealousy in his little maid's voice. She had stuttered adorably to get her words out. He enjoyed watching the cute expressions of frustration when she could not properly form a sentence without trying to be either nervous, or awkward.

"Not just _like_ dearie, _love." _Rumple corrected her. "But you need to listen to me" there was nothing but seriousness in his tone, "don't ever talk to her again, do you understand? Zelena is a very dangerous witch."

Belle nodded at his request. "I hope that I am fortunate enough to never cross paths with her again." The beauty admitted. She had gotten an incredibly eerie feeling from that woman, but Belle could not help but wonder, exactly what role did she play in Rumplestiltskin's life? _Had they been lovers in the past?_

"So you two have.. Met before I assume then?" She spoke up, a strange feeling washing over her.

"Indeed" Rumplestiltskin's expression turned flat. Belle cocked her head to the side slightly, "Did you..." Belle did not know how to finish her sentence without either sounding more jealous than she already felt. "Did you love her?"

There was a short silence before Rumple responded which made Belle's heart thud hard in her chest. Then to her surprise, Rumplestiltskin started laughing. It was the first time Belle had heard Rumple laugh not like an imp, but like a man. His laugh was low and lively, as if she had said something truly hilarious.

"Hardly, the woman is psychotic and rather obsessive." He answered. "She was my apprentice for a short time." Rumple explained, "but when I noticed her uncomfortable.. attachment to me, I let her go."

"So, she wants revenge?" Belle questioned.

"I'm not too sure, Belle, but I am sure of one thing. I will make sure she never comes near you again"

* * *

The next morning, Rumplestiltskin made his way downstairs and was surprised to see Belle in the living room. She was sound asleep on one of the cushioned sofas, her head resting upon a golden small pillow and a book still half opened into her hands. The fireplace crackled peacefully, illuminating her rosy cheeks and fair pink complexion, while her blue dress seemed to hug the curves of her body.

The Dark One couldn't stop himself from staring at the sight. Belle's shiny chestnut hair flowed down past her chest, capturing the lovely frame of her face.

"Papa what are you doing? Bae questioned, having observed his father hopelessly staring at the Beauty. Rumplestiltskin hadn't known that his sn had snuck up on him so easily while he was.. distracted.

"Nothing" Rumplestiltskin turned away from Belle quickly, facing the other direction like he wasn't interested. Then Baelfire's mouth nearly hit the tiles of the floor.

"You like her!" Bae smiled with his accusation, covering his hands over his mouth, childishly. He pieced together the pieces, making sense of most of his fathers uncharacteristic actions in the past couple months or so.

"I mean you _like, like_ her."

"What? I do not." Rumple spoke in an offended tone, acting as though what Bae had said was absolutely preposterous. But despite his transparent denial, Baelfire sighed, inching towards his father with a smug grin painted on his face. "Papa, I've seen the way you look at her... she is very beautiful."

"I haven't noticed." He cut his son off trying to ignore what he had just said, knowing that he had a point. He did tend to stare at her a lot, when she read, cooked, cleaned, curled up like a household cat on the sofa in front of the warm blazing fireplace- and when he did not look at her, he was thinking about her. Rumplestiltskin had tried hard to keep his feelings hidden, refusing on acting on such human emotions. For he was no longer human, he had sacrificed that when he took on the Dark One curse, _how would he know how to love since love was never shown to him?_

"Why don't you ask her to dinner, just the two of you?" Bae suggested.

"Like a date?" Rumple scoffed pretending to be uninterested in the thought. Baeflire nodded at his father's question. "What's the harm?" The boy attempted to persuade his father "You ask Belle to dinner, she'll say yes, you both will have a great time." He urged, holding the top of his father's shoulder with reassurance.

"I just don't know how to ask her." Rumplestiltskin admitted, "and what if she doesn't want to-"

"Leave it up to me" Bae smiled, "just make sure you are in the main hall at three o'clock this afternoon."

_Wonderful, _Rumple thought sarcastically to himself, that is just what is going to woo Belle. His entire romantic future and date with the beauty had fallen into the hands of a nine year old little boy.

* * *

When Rumple walked downstairs he saw Bae and Belle sitting close to the fireplace. They were snuggled up, side by side, while Belle was reading to him. He had always enjoyed watching them together, they had such fun, fun that he had not seen his son have for a long time. She would show him all the pictures and illustrations and they would engage in conversation that would last a while.

"Rumple" Belle smiled, looking back at him from the couch. "Bae said you wanted to ask me something."

"No" Rumple nearly yelled, his body frozen, anchored by her angelic gaze. He wanted to slap himself for the awkward behavior he was displaying, was this Baelfire's idea of a romantic gesture?

"Well, if you don't need me for anything-"

"Belle, wait" Rumplestiltskin called as she began to turn back to her novel, catching her attention immediately.

"Yes?"

Then it was if he had forgotten the entire English language all at once. Words seemed impossible, as long as her bright blue eyes were on him. Her complexion was luminous and clear while her lips parted just slightly, anticipating what he was about to say.

"I uhh.." He started, clearing his throat once more before beginning his sentence over. "I was wondering if you would accompany me to dinner tonight-"

"Dinner? Just the two of us?" Belle questioned, raising her eyebrows at him.

Rumple nodded, a gigantic lump growing and forming in his throat with each second that passed when she did not respond back. "I'd like that." She finally replied, a shy childish smile grew on her face. He tried to hide his smile also, at the acceptance of his invitation, and tried to play it cool for the rest of the conversation that followed.

"I will meet you at exactly eight o'clock at the bottom of the stairs." He confirmed firmly.

The Beauty smiled at him, hiding her blush cheeks as she turned away, anticipating the evening that lay ahead of her. He had asked her to dinner, the Dark One himself and the princess was happy about it. She could not explain the twinge of excitement or the hasty reply she gave to his invitation.

All Belle had to do now was wait for the hour to arrive, worrying about the various dresses she had in her closet that Rumplestiltskin had generously given to her.

Rumplestiltskin was no different. He spent the rest of his day in his chambers, fidgeting over what he would things he would say to her and what to possibly wear to impress such a beautiful woman such as Belle. The night had to be absolutely _perfect._

When the clock struck eight o'clock, Belle sat in her room dressed for dinner and stared at herself in the mirror. Her face was powdered with the finest makeup, yet she still, felt self conscious of what she looked like. Taking a deep breath in, Belle walked out of her room and began to walk down the grand staircase. She had dressed herself in her royal golden dress which was tucked tightly around her waist. Her chestnut hair was curled in ringlets flowing past her chest and she straightened her voluminous skirt. Belle descended the steps of the large staircase with all of the grace and poise she had been born with.

She took a deep breath in when she saw Rumplestiltskin standing at the bottom of the staircase, dressed as a gentleman would in a formal suit. Her mind immediately turned back to worrying on what he thought of her, how she looked.

_Had she powdered her nose enough? Were her lips perfectly red?_

The closer she came towards him, the faster and more frequent her breathing became. Her thoughts became scattered with each step closer until she was facing him, her mind completely blank of words to say.

"You look very beautiful." He stated lowly, holding out his hand for her to grasp.

"Thank you" The beauty responded to his comment, taking his outreached hand in hers as he led her into the grand ballroom.

Belle gasped at the sight of it.

The ballroom was nothing like she'd left it. Sheer golden curtains hung around the large windows, catching starlight in their shimmering folds. The table had been moved to the side of the room, out of the way and decorated with more food than they could ever hope to eat. The floor had been polished to a reflective glimmering shine, capturing glimpses and shadows of stars from the vast open windows. In the corner, an enchanted band played with many golden expensive-looking instruments but no people to play them. It was absolutely breathtaking.

From the midst of the magical golden splendor, Rumpelstiltskin came towards her, and she noticed what he was wearing. Rumplestiltskin was dressed in a fine black leather suit with long complementary coat-tails. He stopped a few inches in front of her, his hands clasped behind his back and an expression of nervous pride on his dark features. He blinked twice, unable to read Belle's mind at her opinion of the change.

"Well, dearie?" he asked softly. "What do you think?"

"It's beautiful," The princess praised, unable to make up her mind whether she should fix her gaze on the room or on him. She finally decided to meet his gaze and their stares locked on one another for a long moment.

"I love it" Belle whispered, causing Rumpelstiltskin to grin widely with child-like delight.

"I was hoping you would appreciate that I finally found something to do with all of my gold." His answer made her giggle, making him let out a soft chuckled himself. He then took her hand and bowed towards her, over exaggerating the gentleman-like movement. "May I have this dance?"

To Rumplestlitskin's delight, Belle blushed.

"You may" she smiled, taking his hand as he led her to the middle of the golden floor. Then as they both stepped into the middle of the ballroom, the instruments magically started to play a slow joyous tempo. Her hand rested on his shoulder and his on her corset as they started to dance. They were caught up in the contagious music and endlessly lost track of time.

"Of all things Rumplestiltskin, I would have never guessed you were a remarkable dancer." She spoke, gazing up into his brown dark eyes. He smirked at her comment and swung her out, swooping her back into the comfort of his arms. "I guess sometimes people surprise you."

Belle laughed at the dance move, awaiting until he would do that again. They swayed in the same rhythmic movements, her ball gown flowing and moving with each step they took. "The food looks delicious." Belle observed, glancing over at the large table that held their feast.

Rumple chuckled at the attempt of small talk Belle tried to create. They didn't need words, they were tranced by the beat of the music and the swing of their step. After a while of dancing, he brought up a more serious topic, finding that he was holding her tighter then when they had first begun. Belle was looking at his cheeks and the rounds of his mouth, he had observed, though he did comprehend why.

"Your skin-" she began.

He cringed at her comment. He expected to be mocked do his scaly complexion. "I know" he interrupted, "it must appall you."

"No" she answered instantly, "it kind of reminds me of.. diamonds." She traced her finger on his cheek, which made him close his eyes and try not to swallow the large lump in his chest. "When miners dig up gems from the ground, when they see their first light of the sun they expand and burst into sparkling shimmers of sunlight."

Belle's voice was soft and gentle, feminine and beautiful. Rumple tried not to notice when her body came a little closer to his and her fingers started to intertwine with his. The Dark One felt as if he would pass out, just from that innocent touch of her hands. He had to make up an excuse to save his masculinity and he had t do it quick. Rumple cleared his throat and parted away from Belle. "Our food is getting cold." He coughed.

"We wouldn't want that now, would we?" She joked, letting out a little giggle as Rumple pulled her chair out for her.

Thy sat down at the beautifully decorated table at the side of the ballroom. Rumplestiltskin knew that his son was talented when it came to his creativity and imagination, but this exceeded even his expectations. Everything looked perfect, everything looked extremely beautiful- just like she did.

"Would you like some wine?" He asked her, picking up the skinny bottle and popping the top of the lid off with a loud sound.

Belle heard Rumple gasp at the slip of his hand and watched his terrified face when the wine spilt all over the white laced tablecloth. He looked absolutely terrified.

"I am so sorry" he breathed, unsure of what else he could possibly say.

"At least none of it got on my gown" she giggled.

"I don't know what has gotten into me." He admitted.

Belle grabbed his hand gently and began calming him down, slowly. She knew he had been nervous, but would never tell him as much. The beauty thought that his awkward movements and strange nervous behavior was cute. It was a new side of him that she had never really seen before.

Through the evening, however, Rumplestiltskin had become less and less nervous. Maybe, it was because of Belle's extreme consumption of alcohol. Glass after glass, the beauty excepted the sparkling white and the red wine, like a child reaching for the soothing comfort of their bottle. Belle's cheeks turned rosy pink and a loud giggle was never far behind everything he said to her.

"You know" she slurred her words, "my father never let me have more than one glass of wine."

"I wonder why" He smirked.

She was drunk. Having been sipping in the bottle the whole night, Belle had nearly lost both her speech and coordination. He had not meant for her to drink so much, but she kept insisting on drinking "the sparkling juice".

Belle stumbled out of her chair and waltzed over to the piano. She sat down with all the grace of a lady and giggled like a savage. She lifted the lid carefully and dangled her fingers over the instrument before moving her hands all over the place, resulting in a horrible off key tune and a even more giggling princess.

"Alright." Rumplestiltskin concluded, pulling the lid back over the piano and leading her towards the staircase. "I think we can call it a night." He sighed. Rumple knew ho sick she would end up being in the morning, the poor girl.

"Perhaps this was all a mistake." He thought out loud.

"No" Belle objected. "I'm glad you asked me to dinner tonight."

Then there faces became so close that another inch or so and they could of kissed. Belle felt herself being drawn closer and closer to him, like a piece of metal unconditionally drawn to a magnet.

Then she felt something that she had never rally felt before, a strange sensation. It made her dizzy. And realization finally hit her that it was from the wine. She had nearly drank the whole bottle to herself- _she was going to be sick!_

Belle all of a sudden bent down and vomited all over Rumplestiltskin's leather shoes.

"I think you've had enough wine for tonight, darling' he finally said. He carried the beauty up to her chambers and lay her on her bed, covering with the soft sheet.

It had been a day full of events. He had finally found the courage within himself to ask Belle out on a date. Rumple had found his courage within a coward that he thought he had lost all those years ago. Their faces were so close tonight that one movement from either one of them and their lips would of touched. But of course, fate or whatever you would like to call it had very different plans. Instead of leaving the night with a goodnight kiss, he had left with vomit on his shoes. Was this a sign?

Maybe it just wasn't meant to be.

**Hey everyone! This chapter took a bit longer than the others because it was quite long... I hope you enjoyed it! I am loving each and every review you all post and it truly does mean a lot. Thanks for the follows and favourites, and all the positive energy I am receiving. Leave another reiew if you wish and let me know your thoughts, ideas, or predictions on the rest of the story! Thanks for reading!**

**Next Chapter: Rumple continues to contemplate if he should act on his feelings or not, Zelena comes up with a tedious plan.**


	12. The Winter Rose

Belle woke up with the worst headache she had ever experienced in her entire life. Rumple had called it a "hangover" but she was not sure what that really meant. She was, however, completely certain it had to do with the amount of alcohol she had consumed the night before.

Flashes of her memory began to return to her as she slowly sat herself upright in her bed. Rumplestiltskin had been in her room earlier, she remembered, most likely to check in on her. She heard the soft gentle sound of his voice whispering across the room to her if she was alright. Belle had automatically dismissed him, of course, wanting nothing more than to slam he head back onto her cloud-like feathered pillow.

She remembered the night before, the beautiful ballroom, the marvelous dinner, the dancing- Rumplestiltskin surely proved he was a wonderful and graceful dance partner, despite the fact that she had two left feet. The dinner was delicious, like one of the royal feasts that she used to have back in Avonlea, everything she could of possibly wanted to eat was on the table before her. She continued to carelessly drink glass after glass of the red wine, excited and nervous to be out alone with him, though she did recall Rumplestiltskin's efforts to get her to drink water instead. He had been such a gentleman that night, but how did she repay his kindness? She got undeniably annihilated by an enemy by the name of Merlot and Shiraz.

Her head throbbed again with extreme pain. _Even thinking hurt._ She reached her hand and placed it on the side of her temple and rubbed it gently. Belle's chambers were dark and accommodating to her current needs to be isolated. The beauty felt embarrassed and silly, she was an adult, and a princess of all things! A princess who had definitely ruined the Dark One's shoes with her vomit last night.

Then, a slight knock on the door felt like thunder to her sensitive ears. She turned her attention to the doorway, where Rumplestiltskin stood, sheepishly. He lingered around the doorway for a good thirty seconds before he spoke with the gentlest tone, "May I come in?"

Belle gave him an inviting nod of approval, while Rumple emerged from the doorway and made his way into her chamber. "How are you feeling, dearie?"

"I feel like death." She croaked, "who knew that a couple drinks would make someone feel like this."

"That's a hangover alright," he smirked, "and that's why I brought you this." Rumple poofed up a tray filled with various breakfast foods. The aroma from the food made Belle's stomach grumble, to her surprise. She had never been much of a breakfast eater, specially when she felt so sick like this. But the food looked fantastic and undeniable at that very moment, and smelt even better.

"Is that for me?" Belle could not help but grin. Rumple nodded and placed the tray at her bed side, slowly and carefully. On one side of the plate were two eggs, pouched and warm, just the way she liked them. On the other side were a few thin strips of bacon, with a few slices of a ripe seedless orange and purple plump vine grapes.

"You didn't have to do this for me." The beauty protested, "I am suppose to be _your_ maid, remember? And I certainly don't deserve special treatment after last night." She stopped briefly and Rumple instantly knew that she was embarrassed. Then with a whisper, Belle looked up, her eyes bashful and full of regret, "I'm sorry I threw up on your shoes. I really was having a great time with you- until I ruined it."

Rumplestiltskin took this time to turn on the lamp to get a better look at the beauty. Her usual neat and brushed hair was uncombed and curled all over the place, while her nightgown only held up from one shoulder and Rumple tried his best not to stare directly at such a sight.

"You did not ruin anything, Belle. Don't feel bad about a single thing."

"Well I do." She confessed. "You planned such a wonderful evening for us-" Her expression was of pure worry, her nose crinkled, like it had done when she was in deep thought. Rumplestiltskin knew that in her mind, Belle was still very angry with herself. He just needed to reassure her that what she had done hadn't affected his feelings towards her in any way. And why would they? Of all things, it was not she who should be trying to make up on misgivings.

"Perhaps you can make it up to me then." Rumple pitched, which immediately caught her attention.

"How so?" She asked.

"Baelfire and I are about to take a stroll out in the gardens, come and join us." Rumple asked, his tone sounding more like a question than it did a command.

"Its the middle of winter!" Belle exclaimed, "a stroll in the gardens seems a bit unusual at this time of year, don't you think?"

She always had to have some sort of logic or reason to do what she wanted, He realized. Rumplestiltskin knew for a fact that Belle loved exploring the outdoors, especially the castles gardens. "It looks like a clear day, the sky is blue and there are no storm clouds in sight." He retorted to her objections.

Belle was hesitant, not making direct eye contact with him, averting her gaze on the tray in front of her. She took a hash brown and crunched it in her mouth, letting out a pleasant sound as she did so. "Come on" Rumple urged, "The weather is not that bad, and besides, you owe me for my ruined leather shoes."

Belle smiled at that, like he knew she would. She had a soft spot for his humor he had observed, much like she did for all of his other terrible qualities. He knew that somehow he was starting to win her over, even with everything that he had done when they first had met.

"I'll just get dressed and detangle my hair, and perhaps I will be downstairs when I am finished." She smiled, already starting to get out of her bed. Then before Rumple left the door he said, "then, maybe we will be waiting for you."

* * *

Rumplestiltskin paced downstairs, waiting for Belle to get ready. He was so concentrated, lost in thought, that he did not even realize that Baelfire had crept up behind him.

"How was the date last night?" Baelfire called, louder than Rumplestiltskin would of liked. The rooms and hallways had a projection for echoes, and the last thing he wanted was for Belle to come down the stairs and here Baelfire gossiping about how the date went. "It was fine." Rumple answered, simply.

"Just _fine_? Baelfire refused to believe such a thing. He had watched his father for days- even weeks on end, hopelessly pondering after Belle, and now everything was just _fine?_ He needed more to go on than _that._

"Belle.. wasn't feeling very well." He continued on his explanation. Then the sound of a third party's footsteps came from the staircase behind them.

Belle walked down the steps, slowly and loudly, capturing the attention of both of the boys in mid conversation. Her hair was brushed and tied back with one of her red ribbons, while she wore a red winter dress rather than her regular blue work apparel.

"You look better." Rumple commented.

"Thanks, maybe it was the breakfast you made me." She replied.

"I helped make it you know!" Bae said, happily.

"You helped?" Belle grinned back, "well I just might have to get for you to cook for me again, because those were the best eggs I've ever had."

Rumplestiltskin watched his son smile back at Belle, his face lighting up at her kind compliment. He had watched them together, playing, talking, reading. It was very obvious that they had fun together and that Bae looked up to Belle as a mother-like figure.

The weather was freezing outside, just as Belle predicted. However, the winds were kept calm and the grey cloudy skies had evolved into a light blue. Belle squinted her eyes shut, attempting to fold her arms over to cover her eyes from the bright reflection of the snow. The three of them walked on the stone path, covered in a thick trail of fluffy frozen snow. The whole courtyard was hidden with sheets of endless white, freezing everything that lay in its tracks.

"This has been a long winter." Belle spoke, "I am sure spring is to come soon."

If only spring were to come. Belle loved the spring, it was one of the most beautiful seasons, the new leaves blooming on the trees, the bees buzzing around the green meadows, jumping flower to flower. Everything became new again in spring, and most importantly, it was not cold. It had gotten cold at the very beginning of autumn, when she still was living in her own castle back in Avonlea. Then it hit her. "You know, It has been seven months, since I've lived here in the dark castle."

"Only seven?" Bae questioned, "It seems like longer. I cannot imagine our castle without you." He nudged the side of his father to add to the conversation.

"Neither can I." Rumple added, "time does really fly. It feels like yesterday that-"

"Do you think our pond is still frozen papa?" Bae called, running over to the area of frozen water, reaching out his leg to test the durability of the thin ice.

"I would rather you not test it out." He advised, keeping a watchful eye on his son. He remembered what happened last time one of them was on unsteady frozen ice. Belle had nearly drown that day, the day she was being so stubborn. observed the relationship between father and son, and though it seemed strained at times, there was no doubt that Baelfire loved his father deeply and only wished for his approval.

"He looks up to you quite a bit you know." Belle spoke, walking slowly beside Rumplestiltskin throughout the rest of the gardens. He was still intently watching Baelfire who had both feet on top of the ice now, his arms spread out for delicate balance. "I think every son looks up to his father." The beauty continued to speak, imagining her father who yearned for a son but was bestowed with a daughter instead.

"Yes, but some fathers aren't meant to be looked up to, my father was a terrific example of that." Rumple growled in his throat, a tone Belle ad come to recognize when something was bothering him.

Rumplestiltskin remembered his father vividly, even dreaming about him sometimes. He was a trickster, a gambler, and Rumple knew for a fact that Malcolm surely never wanted to be a father. He recalled the days that he was left with the spinsters, not seeing his father for weeks on end. His childhood had been overwhelmed with crushed hopes and impossible dreams that would never be fulfilled. He promised himself that he would never be like Malcolm, ever.

"What happened to him?" Belle hesitated, asking such a sensitive subject, but eventually she got the words out, "I remember you mentioned him to me before."

Rumple took a shaky breath in. It was a topic he did not enjoy discussing. When Baelfire had asked him about his own father, Rumple simply changed the subject or ignored the questions all together. But Belle was different than anyone he had ever met before. He knew he could trust her and talk about what was bothering him. No matter what had happened, she always made him feel better.

"He was a coward," the Dark One began, "he abandoned me when I was just a young boy." He confessed, his brown eyes filled with a type of sadness Belle had never seen before. When she looked upon him in this vulnerable state she saw something, _something human._ Emotion filled with humanity, which made a warm sensation burn in the center of her heart. It came like a thief, the realization that despite all of his short comings, at this very moment Belle knew she had fallen in love with Rumplestiltskin.

"I'm really sorry, that must have been tough." She apologized, staring down at her feet, her cheeks turning red at her own thoughts. Unlike Rumple, Belle had been a privileged child, the only noble child born to a King and a Queen. She had been spoiled with all the necessities and pampered like the princess she was.

"Not as tough as one might imagine." Rumplestiltskin interjected, "I think the real thing Baelfire struggles with is his mother leaving. Milah was her name. She left me for another man, Baelfire was only just a baby at the time."

"How horrible." Not only did Belle feel painful sympathy for Rumple and Bae, she almost felt.. _angry_. Angry at the fact that this woman named Milah would decide to leave her family, decide to leave her only child and husband behind. Her hands grew into a fist at the thought of it. Rumplestiltskin did not seem to be heartbroken, just angry, just as she was. Angry that anyone would abandon Baelfire like that.

They went on to talk about other things, everything and nothing. She felt secure and comfortable around him, a feeling she had not had since her mother had been alive. She laughed when he made his quips, and he gave her a clever remark at whatever she had to say back. Both of their attention soon turned to a simple rose bush, within its cold bare branches grew a single red rose.

"Look!" Belle exclaimed, "Its a rose!"

Rumplestiltskin walked over to the small barren bush and plucked the red flower from its branch. "Here" he held it out towards it. She did not hesitate to take the rose, for it truly was very lovely, redder and more beautiful than she had seen any other flower before. "I thought roses did not bloom in winter." She raised an eyebrow.

"They don't" he replied, "but with the help of magic, anything is possible."

Belle brought her nose up to the delicate rose and smelt the light scent. "Thank you," she said "my winter rose is beautiful."

_Just like you are. _Rumple wanted to say, but he didn't dare. Instead of making the romantic gesture he simply said, your welcome."

The beauty held out her arm to his. "What are you doing?" He asked her, staring at her arm like she was pointing a gun at him.

"Linking arms. Back in Avonlea, a man and a woman, when they took strolls together, joined arms." He offered his arm, and just like a lost piece returning to its puzzle, Belle snuggled comfortably into his side. When Belle took her mitted hand and grabbed his, he didn't want to let go.

* * *

Zelena had never been the patient sort. In fact, she had an incredibly low tolerance for anything that had the chance of standing in the way of what she wanted, and in this case, it was Belle. She had watched them, both of them very closely. Zelena had her suspicions as any woman did driven by jealousy.

Maybe her intuition was telling the truth and there was something there that didn't meet the naked eye. She needed a plan and needed a plan quick. Maybe with the little wench out of the equation, she would finally be able to do the one thing she desired the most, get Rumplestiltskin back. She could try different tactics,

Then with horror, out of the corner of her eye Zelena saw her reflection in the mirror. She ran up to it as fast as she could and stared at the small part under her neck. She nearly gasped when she saw that part of her face was turning green.. and it was spreading. She let out a hiss and kicked over a nearby vase, causing it to shatter into a thousand small pieces.

Was it possible? Was she, one of the most powerful sorceresses in the entire Enchanted Forest, jealous of a maid? The girl was beautiful, as much as Zelena hated to admit it. What if Rumplestiltskin falls in love with her, it would destroy any sort of hope she had with the Dark One. The green had stopped spreading, while she clawed and rubbed the newly transformed skin. Maybe it was true, jealousy was one of her many tendencies, as much as she did not want to admit it.

However, Zelena was sure of one thing, she would persuade Rumplestiltskin to rid himself of that little wench, or she would do it herself.

**Hey everyone! I want to thank everyone who has been following, favoriting and reviewing this story, you guys are AWESOME. You make my day with your lovely comments and thoughts, so if you are up to leaving a review GO FOR IT! It makes me update 10x faster. I hope you anjoyed this chapter, I kept changing it around quite a bit, so that's why it took me a little bit longer to update. Thanks for reading!**

**Next Chapter: When Rumple does not return home from one of his deals, Belle fears the worst, but what she doesn't know is that he is out searching for the perfect gift for her. **


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